The Awakening
by SaraBrianne
Summary: A sequal to the Midnighters Trilogy: New Midnighters are cropping up everywhere, but when Seers begin dying and Mindcasters turn up missing the Midnighters face their toughest challenge yet. Written by the Sara half of SaraBrianne.
1. Prologue: New Powers

Disclaimer: I don't own the Midnighters, sadly, Scott Westerfield does.

A/N: Hey everyone, it's Sara from the SaraBrianne team, and this is my first attempt at a Midnighters fanfic. Let me know what you think!

**Prologue: New Powers**

James groaned as his alarm clock blared annoyingly, shattering his dreams and throwing him back into reality. He pounded it violently, hearing something crack as he sat up and yawned. If mornings stink, then Monday mornings were junkyards drenched in old fish.

"Wow, violent much," his twin brother Christian muttered as he rolled out of bed and stumbled to his closet. James glanced at the bright red numbers on his clock and squinted. He could barely make them out. "You have a headache? You're squinting."

"Must be the lack of sleep. Everything is so blurred," James muttered. "Hope I don't need glasses."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Move, freak," the high-school Barbie huffed as she pushed Carrie aside, knocking her into the side of the school. Carrie rubbed her head angrily and stared out at the cluster of cloned high-school goddesses. "I hear she's some sort of witch. Crazy."

Carrie grinned and made an exaggerated hand motion, chanting lightly, her bracelets clanking against each other ominously. Sometimes rumors were more fun to promote then fight. A few of the girls looked at each other nervously, but their leader simply stomped toward Carrie, her hands on her hips.

"Are you, like, making fun of me?" she demanded.

"No, like, why ever would I, like, do that?" Carrie mocked, twirling her red hair ditzily with her black-nail polished finger.

"Are you getting smart with me?!"

"No, I want you to follow my insults."

"Shut up," she insisted as she shoved Carrie backward.

Carrie tried to keep her balance, but her foot caught on her backpack and she fell toward the ground. Without even thinking, she shifted her weight and back-flipped back to her feet. She paused in shock. She was not the flexible kind. What had just happened?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey Garrett!" Allison called as she ran toward her best friend and hugged him tightly.

"Hey Ally," he remarked. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she muttered as she walked toward the front door. As she tromped across the school's lawn, however, an odd, metallic taste flicked across her tongue. "What the?"

She looked down and smiled. An old class ring sat in the grass, just next to her shoe.

"What's that?" Garrett wondered.

"Old ring. Cool, huh?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Mr. Keith, would you come here for a moment?" Mr. Barton announced.

Brett uneasily extricated himself from his friends and walked to Mr. Barton's desk. It had to be about the math test. If he failed this one too he wouldn't be able to play against Piedra Vista on Saturday.

"Mr. Keith, I'm afraid we have a problem."

"What?" he muttered.

"Here's your test from yesterday. Would you care to explain this?"

Brett peeked at the paper uneasily and then in shock. 106. Even the bonus questions. He had never gotten better then a "C" in math in his entire life. Sure, he had thought that he grasped the new topic way easier then any other time, but an A+?

"I guess I just got it this time, you know?" he shrugged, a smile coming unbidden to his lips.

"That's not your usual work, Brett. Who did you cheat off of?"

Brett stared back at his teacher uneasily. Cheating? He didn't cheat! If he got in trouble for cheating he'd be booted off the team.

"I swear I didn't, Mr. Barton. Math is just getting easier I guess."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"More energy. Smile, get into it!" the choir teacher called as the students grooved to the new gospel song they were practicing for an assembly. Nicole laughed and swayed with everyone else, her mezzo soprano voice backing up a tenor mid-improv. She felt the surge of the music build up inside of her until her voice suddenly rang out, out-distancing any first soprano in the class, shimmering atop the choir's voices like a bell. A particularly loud bell.

The choir fell silent and stared at her. She blushed a deep red and shrugged. She'd never been able to hit that high. She normally had an alto range and had to push to be a soprano. The teacher looked at her appraisingly.

"That was weird, huh?" she chuckled and the class laughed. She let out a breath of relief. What had just happened?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Madison sighed and laid her head on her desk. She'd had a migraine since the night before. It must have been all the candy on Halloween.

"Madison, could you look up, please?" her teacher called.

She winced and sat up, the light making her want to puke, her temples pounding.

"What a loon," someone muttered behind her.

She turned around, but no one was looking at her. There was an oddly bitter taste in her mouth. She let out a deep breath and picked her long hair up off her neck, hoping to ease the tension in her head.

"She's so hot."

Madison turned around again, but all she saw was a new kid ogling the girl next to him. The taste in her mouth turned warm and salty.

"This is so boring!"

"I can't wait till school is out."

"Why won't he notice me?"

Madison looked around the room and then to the teacher. She shuddered at the tastes and feelings rushing through her body. What was going on? Why wasn't the teacher stopping all the talking? Suddenly she realized that no one was talking at all. Their mouths weren't moving. Was she hearing voices?

"Madison, are you all right?" her teacher wondered.

"I feel sick," she muttered.

"All right then, go down to the principal's office," he remarked.

She didn't have to be asked twice. She stood up, grabbed her backpack, and left.

"I wonder how long I can stay out of class?"

"Maybe I should skip fourth..."

"Wait a minute, the report is due today?!"

"He is so hot!"

"No one understands... Everyone hates me."

"What a bod."

Madison stared at each person she passed, none of them were talking, but somehow she heard all of them in her head. Was she insane? What was going on?

She shook her head, ignoring the stab of pain it sent through her skull, and began running down the halls.

"Hey watch it!" someone shouted as she ran into him, and a sudden flash of pain ran through her mind, mixing with confusion frustration, and nerves.

She couldn't tell if the boy had said it aloud or not as she grabbed her head and catapulted down the stairs, knocking into people as she went. With each touch the voices seemed to shriek in her mind, thousands of thoughts, feelings, and emotions turning into a blur, a painful blast of sound that kept reverberating in her mind. She passed the nurse, fleeing for the door. The sound blared in her head, blocking out her other senses. She'd gone mad, she knew it.

She sped past the school, past blocks of houses, past the fire department, until she stopped in the park, doubled over and gasping for breath. She fell back against one of the trees, her knees against her chest, grabbing her head in an attempt to block everything out. People everywhere seemed to be calling to her, their emotions overwhelming her until all she could hear were the voices and her own labored breathing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Robert walked uneasily down his stairwell, looking about his house as if for the first time. It had been so long... He reached for a cup of tea with a shaking hand and sat at his table, feeling the familiar power buzz through his mind. He reached out tentatively at first, afraid it was some terrible dream. He could feel the others in town, most of them young. What was going on? This wasn't Bixby.

The phone rang, shattering the silence, and he jumped, his old joints protesting and his heart pounding in his chest. He picked it up carefully.

"Robert," a mature woman's voice began.

"I know, Mary. They're back. Somehow it's caught up with us."


	2. Would You Just Let Me Drive?

**A/N Hey everyone, here's a new chapter. Sorry for the delay, the stupid site wouldn't let me update...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Scott's characters or plot points**

**Chapter One: Would You Just Let Me Drive??**

Melissa paced around Jonathan's car, waiting. The desert sand cracked beneath her boots as she finally stopped and leaned against the car with a grunt. The Blue Hour would be over soon, thank goodness. She really didn't know which was worse: Jonathan and Jess's sickening thought-waves during the Blue Hour or Jonathan's depression during the day.

She ran her fingers through her stubbly hair, burned away while saving the world, and sighed. The Blue Hour was no fun anymore: nothing to kill, no one's mind to mess with, no Rex to... She blinked and forced her thoughts to the back of her mind. The gushy, nauseatingly sweet feelings Jonathan and Jess blasted made her want to puke on a nightly basis, but most of the time it made her want to turn around and run back to Bixby as fast as she could.

She rubbed her hands together uncomfortably, trying to keep them from tingling as she tentatively tried to find Rex. She was so far away she didn't know if she could do it. She couldn't help but smile a bit as she caught the smallest flicker of him. Not enough to talk, not enough to do anything really, but he was there, the same taste, the same glimmer of darkness rippling through his core. He was slowly getting control of his Darkling side.

"Oh, Loverboy, what am I going to do without you?" she muttered, a mischievous half-smile playing across her lips as a deep-rooted sadness gripped at her heart. She immediately caught herself and forced her mind to ignore her pain. She couldn't get upset. What would she do when she was too far away to feel him? Break down like Jonathan? Not a chance.

She was trying to focus on her fingernails when she felt a gentle, casual stroke against her mind. She gasped and sat up straight, throwing up barriers and grabbing hold of the intrusion. For a brief instant she connected with someone else: another mindcaster. She tasted age and knowledge, but most of all, she tasted the link. This Mindcaster had been given access to the memories of every other Mindcaster before him, just as Melissa had when she'd met Madeline.

The connection was immediately broken, but not before she'd received a glimpse of what was going on. She shivered and reached out to Jonathan. She rolled her eyes at his feelings and pushed through them.

"Jonathan, get back here now!" she shouted. She knew that he had heard her, and she also felt him trying to decide whether to come or not. "Now, Jonathan!"

He obeyed, though reluctantly. Melissa's mind spun with what she had felt. Someone had been trying to mess with her mind. Someone who seriously needed his butt kicked.

"This better be an emergency," Jonathan grumbled as he and Jess landed nearby. Melissa shielded her eyes from Jessica's new glowing hand and glared at Jonathan.

"No, I was just desperate to see you," she retorted. "Seriously, would I interrupt your little love-fest if I didn't have to? Midnight's almost over - "

"Don't remind me."

"Would you just shut up for a minute and let me talk? We have to get to the other side of New Mexico as soon as possible."

"What's going on?" Jessica inquired.

"Something bad. We have to leave the second we can."

"Why?" Jonathan continued.

"Because someone just tried to mindcast me, Jonathan."

"What?" Jessica gasped.

"That's right, someone tried to get into my head and mess with things a bit. I stopped it, and now I know that something's going down in New Mexico."

"Like what?" Jessica pressed.

"If I knew, I would have told you."

Jonathan and Jess both exchanged looks, their thoughts lined with worry, confusion, and a hint of regret. Melissa made an obnoxious gagging noise a their emotions and Jonathan sent her a warning glare.

They all looked up at the sky. The Blue Hour was ending. Jonathan immediately pulled Jessica close and kissed her mournfully, holding her tightly as the dark moon slowly sank beneath the horizon and Jessica disappeared.

Melissa felt as if she'd been stabbed in the chest as Jonathan's sorrow settled around her, as cold and lonely as space; a salty, bitter taste flicking across her tongue.

"Come on, you said we have to go," he muttered as he climbed into the car and started the engine.

"You sure you want to drive, Flyboy?"

"Yes," he announced.

Melissa sighed. He was going to be like that all morning. She grumpily climbed into the backseat and stretched out across it, grabbing for her CD player and slipping her headphones over her ears.

"What are you doing?" he called back.

"Sleeping. If you're going to sit up there, taking all you frustration out on the road, sending off angry thoughts, then go right ahead. That doesn't mean I have to listen to your tantrum. Just follow the road, wake me up in a few hours."

"But what am I -"

With an annoyed roll of her eyes, Melissa pressed the play button, the screaming of heavy-metal music blocking everything out. She could feel Jonathan's frustration and grinned before succumbing to the music and falling asleep as the car rumbled beneath her and Jonathan peeled out onto the road.

The blissful oblivion of sleep was shattered as Jonathan reached back and jabbed Melissa in the side.

"What?" she growled as she sat up, lowering her headphones.

"Food," he announced as he held up a fast-food bag.

She carefully climbed up and sat in the passenger seat. A brief flutter of fear rippled across her skin as she remembered flying through her windshield only a few months before.

"Where are we?" she questioned as she dug through the bag.

He was feeling better, she could tell. At least he could keep his thoughts under control.

"We just passed some little place called Clayton, I'm heading down to Santa Fe."

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Santa Fe, big city? It will take us down to the other side of New Mexico."

"You're going the wrong way! Turn around! How could you be such an idiot?"

"Well how was I supposed to go? You didn't tell me!"

"Get off here, we have to get onto highway 64, we're heading toward Farmington."

"Well then what am I supposed to do, I don't know New Mexico, Melissa."

"Turn here."

"What?"

"Turn here!"

"All right," he grumbled.

"Now turn there."

"Do you even know where you're sending us?"

"Do you? I said turn there!"

"Would you just let me drive?!"

"Don't yell at me, it's not my fault that you went the wrong way."

"Are you serious? You never told -"

"Jonathan watch out!" she screamed as a man seemed to appear out of no where. Jonathan swerved out of the way, running over the curb before coming to a jerking stop. Melissa could barely breathe as she grabbed the seat with white fists, her heart speeding in her chest. Old pains returned across her body, the sound of shattering glass ringing in her mind, remembering that horrible night.

Jonathan swore and turned to Melissa. "You all right?"

She unclenched her fists and forced herself to calm down before nodding and watching Jonathan race out of the car toward the man who was pulling himself off the ground. Melissa took a deep breath and got out of the car as well, her legs shaking a bit as she ran toward Jonathan, who had helped the man to his feet. He didn't seem to be hurt, though he was old enough that she had to wonder.

"No, you didn't hit me, I wasn't looking where I was going," the man protested.

"Are you sure? I mean, I wasn't paying all that much attention -"

"No, I'm fine, believe me."

Melissa watched the man oddly. There was something different about him...

"Nathaniel Havard. Nice to meet you, Jonathan. And you?"

He turned to Melissa, extending his wrinkled hand. She looked down at it suspiciously, but she could still sense a kind of oddness in him. Fighting her discomfort, she reached out and shook his hand, lightly searching his mind as she did so. She immediately felt elated; joy flooding her senses, the feeling of wind in her face and freedom. A cool taste settled along her tongue, filling her mouth with cold air. She had only felt that once before.

She looked at him in a new light, and she turned to Jonathan. "We have to go."

Jonathan glanced back at Nathaniel and seemed to want to argue, but he could tell by her face that she was absolutely serious. "Yeah, you're right. You sure you're all right?"

"I'm just fine. It was nice to meet both of you, regardless of how it happened," he chuckled.

Melissa was already walking back to the car.

"What was that all about?" Jonathan questioned as he got back in the car and carefully pulled back onto the street. No real damage, thank goodness.

"That man was an acrobat."

"Really?" he wondered, turning to look back.

"Keep your eyes on the road, idiot!" she shrieked. He immediately turned back around.

"That's kind of cool, though. I mean, now that midnight is everywhere -"

"No, Jonathan, that wasn't my whole point. He's an acrobat, and he was one before. He was flying when he was your age."

A heavy silence settled between them. "Um, how is that possible? We're the only Midnighters from Bixby. Well, us and Madeline. The rest were killed."

"I know," she muttered as she stared out the window. She reached out toward Farmington again, feeling the unrest, the bitter taste of a plot brewing and the salty tang of fear. "Go faster, Jonathan."

He looked at her nervously, knowing how worried she had to be to ask him to go faster, and stepped on the gas.

"Stop here," Melissa muttered the next morning. Jonathan pulled over without question, his normal morning depression still seeping his thoughts with grief.

Melissa climbed out of the car and looked around. "Glad I wore black," she muttered.

"Where are we going?" Jonathan called as he walked toward her.

"A funeral," she answered as she tromped through the grass and over a small hill, a sea of white head stones coming into view.

"Uh, Melissa, I know that you're all into the goth scene or whatever, but do we have time for this?"

She glared at him and began walking down the hill. He followed without talking. He was learning.

She wandered the cemetery a bit before casually joining a grave-side memorial, standing in the back, trying to blend in. She studied the crowd, finding the people she was looking for. A small cluster of teens stood near the grave, their faces pale, their thoughts sour with grief and guilt. She softly walked toward them, trying to find what she wanted, waiting for the ceremony to end. She realized a bit disappointedly that she was going to have to talk to them. Not that she necessarily needed to ask them what they knew, but they needed to know what she did. She swore softly and walked toward the young Midnighters as the rest of the crowd separated.

"Sara?" she called, naming the polymath of the group. She was silently doing multiplication in her head, her mind spinning with logic. She was thinking much clearer then any of her friends.

"What? Do I know you?" she wondered as she pulled away from her group.

"I could say something really sage-like and mysterious right now, but I don't have any time. I know what you are, I know what happened -"

"You know what happened? I seriously doubt that."

"That he was killed by a monster?" Melissa stated, crossing her arms. Darkling wouldn't mean anything to them.

Sara's eyes widened and then squinted closed again with the same examining expression Melissa had seen on Dess hundreds of times. Dess would like this one.

"You know about Dreamland?"

"The Blue Time, yeah, I do, and I know who you are. Now what happened here? What were those boy's powers?"

"We didn't mean anything by it, really!" one of the teens called out, tears running down her cheeks.

"Yeah, we were just goofin' around, how were we supposed to know some crazy monster was waiting for us?"

Jonathan looked at Melissa intently, looking for some clue as to what she knew. She would tell him later. He'd survive.

"He saw things, told us what was going on, kind of."

"A seer," she confirmed.

"Yeah, and now Jason's gone too, probably eaten by that thing in the desert."

"Jason?" Jonathan wondered aloud.

"He could hear things. Read our minds. He disappeared."

Melissa nodded, everything exactly as she'd thought. She grabbed one of Jonathan's old receipts she'd stolen from the car and a pen she'd found in his glove box and jotted down an E-mail address. It had taken her nearly an hour the day before to convince Dess to create an E-mail account, and another half-hour to make her promise to actually check it.

"This is a friend of mine. Write her, tell her Melissa sent you. She can tell you what to do, what that monster was, and how to stop it. If you meet other people like you, other Midnighters, tell them to write her to. I'd help you more, but I don't have the time," she mumbled. She could have passed them everything they needed to know through a touch of her hand, but the thought of spreading word like the old mindcasters, of touching someone like she had Rex… she wouldn't do it. Not when they could learn just as much on their own. Besides, how strong would they be if they just had the information? Let Dess deal with it.

Sara took the paper and glanced down at it. "Thanks, I guess."

Melissa tasted suspicion in the girl, but the first time she attacked a Darkling she would believe. As she turned to leave, Jonathan following in confusion, her attention was caught by one of the Midnighters, kneeling beside the grave sight, her head in her hands. She had loved the dead seer. She felt a chill race along her spine, and turned away, purposefully turning her back on the scene.

"So what was that all about, because it seemed kind of pointless," Jonathan muttered once they got back in the car.

"The Darklings are a lot fewer in number, but they're starting to group together again. That kind of thing is happening all over the place. The Darklings are targeting seers."

"What?" Jonathan questioned. "On purpose?"

"Gee, why don't I just go up and ask one?" she rebutted. "I don't know whether it's on purpose or not."

"What about what that one person said, about the mindcaster disappearing? That a coincidence to?"

Melissa sarcastic demeanor vanished. "No. That's happening everywhere too."

He looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to explain more, but she didn't seem willing to continue. He huffed and Melissa sensed his frustration. He thought she was hiding something from him. Little did he know, she knew just about as much as he did. Someone didn't want her to figure anything out, and that just made her more determined to do it.


	3. Danger, James Howell, Danger!

AN: Hey, thanks for your patience guys! (And for the review... at least one person is reading!) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Scott's stuff, only my own. :)

**Chapter Two: Danger, James Howell, Danger!**

James Howell stared at himself in the mirror and groaned. Glasses. How could he need glasses and his brother didn't? They were twins for crying out loud!

"Hey, now people can tell us apart," Christian chuckled as he walked by and flicked his brother's frames.

"Shut up, Christian," James grumbled.

"Don't take it personal, J, you were always the smarter one, now you look it."

James huffed and tossed his glasses aside. They were only temporary until his real frames could come in; they figured he needed them right away when he ran into a wall before school.

"Don't tease me, Chris, you know you're next."

"You don't know that, our genes were only the same at birth. Been hanging around the nuclear plant lately?"

"If you don't want to get smacked down you better shut it."

Christian laughed again and flopped onto bed, staring at the ceiling. "What time is it?"

James squinted at his clock and sighed. "I think it's almost midnight. Mom's going to freak when she finds out that we're up this late. It is a school night."

"Yeah, I know. I'll go to bed in just a minute."

James looked over at his brother oddly. "What's up?"

"Huh?" Christian grunted.

"I said 'what's up?' I know something's wrong, no point in hiding it."

"It's stupid," Christian remarked.

"What?"

"Just a weird dream I've been having since around Halloween."

James paused. "About the world going blue?"

Christian turned to his brother with wide eyes. "You've been having it too?"

"Yeah, but I thought it was a dream. I mean, I see clearly in it, and now I need those stupid glasses. Maybe we're having some freaky twin-telepathic thing."

"Yeah, next thing you know we'll be reading each other's minds. What am I thinking?"

"'I want a cheeseburger,'" James answered as he climbed into his bed, ready to go to sleep.

"No fair," Christian muttered.

"It's the truth, though."

"It's still not fair. What time is it?"

"11:59. One more minute then light's out," James grumbled as he pulled his pillow over his head. Lights had been giving him headaches recently: he had even asked for his new glasses to be tinted.

Suddenly, the world seemed to shudder. "What the heck? Was that an earthquake?" James gasped as he sat up, but he froze the instant his room came back into view. He must have fallen asleep again, because once more the world was blue.

"I told you it was going to work!" Christian laughed as he jumped out of bed.

"I must be dreaming," James muttered. "I hate it when I fall asleep like that."

"This is no dream, James." Christian commented as he pinched his brother.

"Ow!"

"Don't be such a baby. Look in the mirror if you want more proof that something's going on."

James rolled his eyes and turned toward the mirror, freezing at his refection. His eyes were different. They were violet. Christian walked toward him and looked in the mirror with a bit of a pout.

"How come your eyes go all cool and mine don't? What do you think's going on?"

James turned away from his disconcerting reflection and stared at Christian.

"What do I think? I think I'm dreaming, that's what I think, and I know that – what are you doing?"

"Exploring. Don't you want to know what's going on?"

James didn't answer. Of course he was interested, but he was also a bit scared. Christian knew it to, and that was what prompted James to do what he did next.

"Of course I am, let's go," he remarked as he walked to his door and down into the living room. His mother would kill them for being up, but if it shut Christian up…

He froze as he reached the base of the stairs. Something weird was going on. The living room was absolutely silent. There was his father, sitting on the couch, watching some late-night movie intently and his mother, already asleep on the armrest. The TV wasn't moving either. What caught James' eye the most, however, was the piece of popcorn suspended in midair by his father's knee.

Christian came running down the stairs, and stopped just as suddenly.

"Creepy."

Christian walked toward his parents, snapping in their faces. "Hello? Mom? Dad? Wake up."

"This is too crazy, Chris. What's happening?"

Christian didn't answer, just ran for the door, stopping on their porch, looking out at the street. Cars were frozen in the middle of the road.

"This is wicked weird," Christian muttered as he walked up to a cloud of leaves blown into the air by a passing car. He reached out to one and it gently fell to the ground. "What's going on?"

James looked around, an odd feeling of curiosity mingled with fear slithering through his blood. Along the sidewalk outside his house, a soft glow trailed along the ground. He knelt beside it and tentatively reached out for it. The instant his fingers brushed the light, he felt a numbing cold seep into his bones, racing along his spine, a sharp taste that reminded him of battery acid flicked across his tongue, intensifying his fear and leaving a sense of pain, adrenaline, and hunger. He gasped and pulled away, falling back to the ground as the emotions buzzed through his body like a gulp of pure caffeine.

"James?" Christian shouted as he ran to his brother. "What happened?"

"Something went this way, something really creepy."

James felt his heart calm, but a sudden desire to see what had made that trail replaced his fear. He stood up.

"Come on, Christian. Let's follow that light."

"Are you crazy? Who knows when this will end? And what do you mean light, I don't see anything!"

"Does any of that matter? I thought I was the one wimping out."

James could sense his twin's indecision. The same feeling urging him on was making Christian nervous. Christian was never nervous. Could his brother really not see the trail? Was he going mad, thinking he saw some weird glow? No, he couldn't be. He felt it too powerfully for it to be a delusion.

James was almost considering leaving Christian behind when a sudden scream caught both their attentions. A girl near their age suddenly fell from the sky, landing just before them, her red hair flying about her face. Bright metal rings clanged against her baggy, black pants like wind chimes. Then, as she landed, she jumped, flying impossibly high into the air.

"Wow," Christian muttered.

"You know her?" James commented with a look at his twin. "Because I don't and I'm wondering what she's doing in our dream."

Hey, don't look at me, I'm into brunettes," Christian answered.

The girl looked down awkwardly and twisted mid-air, spinning gracefully back to the ground before tripping forward.

"Ugh, I hate landings," she grumbled.

"Um, hi?" Christian stated almost like a question.

"Hey, I haven't seen you two before. You just move here? Like, today?"

"No… What's going on?"

"Let me guess, you two thought it was a dream, right?" James and Christian stared at her, neither knowing what to say. Was she just flying? James noticed her eyes were just as purple as his. The girl chuckled. "I guess so, must of us did to at first."

James and Christian exchanged glances. "Who are you?" James questioned.

"Carrie," she remarked.

"Carrie, wait up you freak!" another girl shouted as she ran down the street. She stopped just next to her friend, gasping for air. "Are you insane? You know I don't run, stay on the ground like normal people!"

"Normal? When have I been normal, Nicky?" Carrie rebutted. "Besides, we have newbies in our midst.

The new girl looked up and huffed as she shook her long blonde hair with bright blue streaks out of her face and readjusted the wrap-around skirt she wore over her jeans. "Twins. Cool."

"Yeah, twins not tainted by the jock-heads."

"Now who are you?" Christian interrupted.

"Oh, sorry bud. The girl with the blue streaks is Nicky."

"Nicole," the girl rebutted.

"That's what I said. Nicky, the twins are… actually, I don't know who they are. What're your names?"

"I'm Christian and this is my brother James."

"What's going on here?" James muttered. Carrie and Nicole grinned.

"Nothing but nightly play-time. It's great fun, really. Big 12 has been goin' on since Halloween," Carrie remarked. "About the same time your 'dreams' started, huh?"

"Big 12?"

She rolled her eyes. "What's your watch say?"

Christian looked down at his watch. "12:13. It's about right."

"Really?" she muttered as she walked back to him, grabbing his wrist and looking down at the electrical read-out. "Weird. All our watches stop at 12. Everything stops at 12. Except us, that is."

"How is that possible? I mean, everything just stops? This has to be a dream. You were flying!"

"It's not," James announced as he looked at the glowing on the street again. The minute the words escaped his mouth he knew they were right. Something felt… right. "It's just new around here. We're not dreaming."

"Um, all right. And you know this how?" Christian muttered.

James looked around again and sighed. "I don't know I just… do."

"All right, now my twin's mad too. The world's all gone crazy."

"You're the one who wanted to explore," James argued. "Why all this doubt suddenly? You convinced me it wasn't a dream first!"

Christian huffed and looked around with a shiver. James watched his brother intently. He never did anything without Christian. In fact, Christian was normally the brave one, the one to leap into things. James was the timid one. Something was different.

"Something about this whole thing is spooky. Like some monster is going to pop out of the shadows and eat us at any moment."

"Dramatic much," Carrie commented. "There's nothing bad in Big 12. Just fun. When the mutants come out to play."

"Mutants?"

"You know, like X-Men? What're your skills anyway?" Nicole commented.

"Skills? You mean like Carrie's flying? Are we supposed to be able to do that?"

"Well, not exactly that, but something cool," Nicole responded.

"And I'm not really flying, more like falling with style."

"What about the others?" James wondered.

"Huh?" Nicole questioned.

"You implied there were others. Where are they? What are their powers?"

Carrie huffed and rolled her eyes. "You mean the Jock-heads? Brett Keith, Garret Anderson, and Alison Angel. We don't exactly run in the same crowd. Of all the people to share a completely rad time with…"

"Garret? He's here? Cool," Christian commented. James vaguely remembered his brother mentioning Garret from weight training. Christian loved basketball, but James had never really been into sports. He couldn't count how many times he'd read in the library while waiting for Christian to finish practice. "What can he do?"

Carrie stared at him almost accusingly. "You're a preppie to?"

Suddenly, what sounded like a faint gust of wind whistled past making everyone jump. Carrie floated nearly three feet.

"What was that?" Christian muttered. "I thought you said there was nothing bad in Big 12."

Carrie looked cautiously around the corner and shrugged. "There hasn't been before. Then again, we've only been out here since Halloween."

James stared out into the darkness, a sudden urge to see what had made the rustling flooding his veins. There was something interesting out there. Something he wanted to know. Without really thinking about it, he began to walk toward the sound.

"James, what are you doing?" Christian called.

"Just wait here, I'll be back, I want to know what made that sound."

"James, don't be an idiot, get back here," Christian shouted as James continued to walk. James hesitated at the underlying fear in his twin's voice and looked out into the darkness of the next street over. If only he could see that nothing was there…

He ignored Christian's shouts and peeked around the corner. A small black cat stared up at him, it's eyes glowing violet.

"Hey, kitty," he muttered as he reached down and tried to pat the kitten's head. It turned away from him and ran. He noticed with an odd sense of satisfaction that the cat left a faint glow like the markings near his house. The two had to be connected. He walked back toward the street, nearly running into Christian as he followed. "It's just a cat. Are there many animals in Big 12?"

"No," Carrie and Nicole answered together.

"Then let's follow it, see where it goes," James suggested anxiously. "Maybe we can find out what's going on, see where to go from here. There's got to be a reason this place exists. It's not just coincidence."

"I think you're taking this a little too seriously, J. All I want to do right now is figure out how I fit in here, not why some cat is running around."

James huffed and looked over his shoulder. "Well then you can stay here. I want to know."

He began to walk away. When he heard Christian groan with frustration and stomp after him, he smiled. A lot of people were wrong in thinking Christian was the dominant twin.

"Hey Nicky, want to go kitty hunting?"

"Sure."

James looked over his shoulder and saw the others following. It was strange, being the leader. He followed the glowing trail steadily, leading everyone almost to the edge of town.

"Do you even know where you're going? We haven't seen your kitten yet," Christian grumbled.

"Yes," was James only answer. The cat suddenly came into view, sitting on the last sidewalk of town, staring at them against the background of the desert, the Rocky mountains in the distance. They stopped in front of it and it simply stared at them.

"Um, okay, what do we do now?" Christian wondered.

The cat immediately turned and ran again. This time James followed him as quickly and quietly as he could. He almost forgot the others. His mind was strangely focused.

He left town, the dry grass crackling beneath his shoes. What was out there?

The cat climbed atop a small pile of rocks and waited. He stopped and looked up searchingly. Could he reach the cat? Maybe…

As he stared something softer than mist and colder than ice wrapped around his ankle. He was immediately paralyzed, his breathing caught somewhere between his lungs and his heart, his skin frozen. He stared helplessly as another tentacle wrapped around his waist. He felt as if he'd been stabbed in the heart, ice flooding his veins. His thoughts were suddenly invaded by a creature darker than night, more terrifying than any childhood nightmare. He saw fangs dripping venom, long tentacles seeped with nightmare lashing out at him. He watched as Christian ran toward him, his face contorted with fear, when a long tentacle shot out and stabbing his brother in the chest. Christian stared down at the black spear protruding from his chest and screamed as it retracted. James wanted to scream as Christian fell to his knees, blood pooling around him, dying the dust red. James stared at his twin in terror, trying to run to him, trying to scream, but he couldn't. His body wouldn't respond. He was going mad and he couldn't do anything about it. His brother was going to die!

Suddenly, his nightmare shattered. He fell to the ground shaking, a blinding light flooding his senses. His eyes were burning. He whimpered and turned away from the light, the creature with the tentacles screaming as it incinerated. It wasn't as large as he had thought, it's fangs less menacing, it's tentacles weak. Within moments it was a pile of dust.

"James, James, are you all right? James talk to me for crying out loud!" Christian shrieked as he shook his brother, his face even paler than his brother's.

"Christian? Why aren't you bleeding? You're not dead?"

Christian grabbed his brother and held him tightly.

"He'll be all right. The Darklings make you live your nightmares. At least until they eat you."

James pulled away from his brother stiffly and looked around. The speaker was a girl about his age with redish hair. She was holding a flashlight. Next to her was another boy, and a girl with really short hair. The short-haired girl held a hubcap.

The girl with the flashlight walked forward, extending her hand to him. It glowed so brightly he had to shield his eyes at first. He felt Christian grab his shoulder almost possessively.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, and extended her other hand. It was normal.

"Who are you?" he questioned, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

She twirled her flash light like a cowboy from an old western. "I'm the mighty bringer of the flashlight. But you can call me Jessica."

"All right, so what's going on here, who are you really, and what was that!" Carrie exclaimed.

Jessica opened her mouth to speak, but the girl with the hubcap huffed and stepped forward. "We can explain later. Your little Seer is safe, where are the others?"

"The others? You mean Brett, Garret and Alison? Probably at the field. They're always at the field," Nicole muttered.

"I mean Madison. Your mindcaster. Where is she?"

Carrie and Nicole stared at the girl in confusion. "Who?"

The girl huffed. "Madison Sachet, your age."

"Maddie? What about her, she's not one of us, is she? I haven't seen her around here before. She's been sick lately."

The girl with the hubcap seemed to stare off into space for an instant before turning harshly to the boy and Jessica.

"We have to get to that girl. Now."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Madison leaned against her window, laying her cheek against the cold glass as she ran her fingers through her jagged locks. She had lopped her hair off the day before, when her headache had become to intense for her to handle.

She sighed, the night blissfully quiet. She knew she was going mad the instant the blue world had begun descending every night, but madness or not she was grateful for it.

She stared out at the silent city and up at the moon. Her haven was almost over. Soon it would all begin again.

She heard a stiff movement behind her, in her hallway outside her door. She turned to her door cautiously. The knob turned and a flash of fear left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her own fear.

She pulled herself beneath her bed as her door opened and an old man walked in. He was surprisingly fit for a man she could tell was in his sixties. He didn't look it, but she knew. His mind was soothingly blank for her. He walked around her room and sighed.

"I'm not going under there after you, come on out."

Before she really comprehended what she was doing, she had pulled herself out from under her bed.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

He sighed in a very grandfatherly sort of way and shook his head. "Poor dear. You don't know how to block it out, do you?" She shook her head, tears springing to the back of her eyes. He understood what she was going through. "Come on, I can help you."

He reached out his hand to her and she hesitated. She didn't touch people anymore. It hurt too much. He reached out further, and took her hand himself. She winced, but nothing happened.

"You can help me?" she questioned, almost inaudibly. "Make me sane again?"

"You're not insane. You never were. And yes, I can help you."

Suddenly she felt him come to life in her mind, and in moments her world went completely dark.


	4. Passing the Headphones

**Chapter Three: Passing the Headphones**

Melissa's heart leapt in her chest. Something was wrong. She could taste not one, but two other mindcasters in Farmington. Madison wasn't conscious anymore, her mind silent.

"Where does Madison live? I need to get there now," she called.

"By the school. You want me to show you?" Carrie wondered, the unsure taste of concern mingled with fear flickering through the girl's thoughts. She turned to Jonathan, a queasy sense of unease stirring in her stomach.

"Jonathan, take me to her house as fast as you can. Carrie, you're the Acrobat, right? Lead us there. Jess, go on foot with the rest of them. Keep the Darklings away from that Seer!"

Carrie looked at her in even more confusion. Melissa had never asked the girl her name.

"Melissa, you serious? I mean, to take you there I'd have to -" Jonathan made a motion of holding hands and Melissa shuddered.

"Would I have said it if I didn't know that? Just shut up and take me."

He looked uncomfortably back at Jess, who nodded, and took Melissa's hand. She felt the thrill again, the rush of flying, and the familiar taste of his thoughts. She tried to block them out.

"You first," Jonathan called to the girl.

"All right, it's not far. Try to keep up," she shouted as she leapt into the air. Jonathan followed, the thought of "amateur" flashing through his mind.

Carrie was right, it wasn't far. The instant they landed, Melissa pulled away from Jonathan, wiping her hand on her shirt as she ran. Madison was still here, but there were others as well. Melissa locked onto Madison's thoughts and ran around to the backyard, hopping the wooden fence in the process. Jonathan followed far more gracefully.

"Where is she?" he muttered.

"Shut up," she hissed.

The screen door opened and a man in his sixties walked out, carrying the girl. He didn't look to be any older than forty, his hair still naturally dark, but his thoughts screamed of age. Beyond a few, subtle facts about his life, however, Melissa couldn't penetrate his mind. He was the other Mindcaster, no doubt about it, but he was strong.

She watched intently as he walked down the porch steps, and suddenly disappeared.

"What the -" Jonathan began. She punched him in the arm and crept out into the open. There were others here. She could feel it. Who were they, what was going on...?

"Jonathan, jump!" she shouted. He responded immediately as another acrobat appeared over the house, Madison in his arms. Jonathan met him mid-air, barely able to latch onto the man's legs. Melissa's attention returned to the ground, though her thoughts were locked on what was happening over her head.

"Who are you?" she called to the yard. Someone was playing tricks on her.

Suddenly, a slither swooped toward her, its teeth bared. She moved out of the way, grabbing for Jonathan's hubccap she had removed the night before, and threw it. It passed directly through the Slither, hitting the fence on the other side. She looked at it in confusion. What was going on?

"So you're the one whose been fighting me lately. From Bixby, are you?" the old Mindcaster wondered as he flickered back into visibility.

A woman stood next to him, her long dark hair streaked with white. She was only a few years younger than the man. Her hands were buzzing with power, her mind a blend of flavors and emotions so vivid Melissa couldn't look too far in for fear she'd be trapped. The man must have taught her how to block her thoughts.

Melissa tried to force her way into his mind, but he pushed her back out. He had mentioned Bixby. How did he know what was going on? "And you're the kidnapper, I take it?"

The man chuckled and walked toward her. "Kidnapper? No. Savior perhaps, in the literal sense of the word. I'm saving them from the world."

"By stealing them?"

"If need be." She tried to get into his mind again and he laughed. "It won't work, I promise you. We're both too well guarded to let the other in easily."

"Who are you, old man?"

"You'll know soon enough, I suppose. Unless you want to come with me now and see for yourself."

"What for?"

He was about to answer when Jonathan shouted. Melissa looked up to see Madison fall out of the other Acrobat's arms. She fell down like a rag doll, her unconsious body limply falling through the air.

The other mindcaster looked up into the air, his face white with horror, when Carrie leapt over the fence, kicking off from the top, and caught her friend mid-air. The man let out a heavy sigh of relief and turned back to Melissa.

"You want her? Do you think you can teach her everything she needs to know? She's going to wake up when Midnight ends, she'll go back to the insane confusion of minds she's been living in these last few days. She's powerful: more powerful than is normal. She needs special help. You think you can do that for her before she ends the madness herself?"

Melissa didn't know what to say. Jonathan and the other Acrobat fell back to the ground as Nicole, the twins, and Jessica struggled over the fence. The Acrobat was the same old man Jonathan had nearly run over before: Nathaniel.

Nathaniel ran toward the other two old Midnighters and grabbed their hands, jumping in the air with a practiced precision that not even Jonathan could match. Jonathan ran to catch up with them, but Melissa held him back.

"No. Let them go," she muttered.

"What? Why?" he demanded, his breathing heavy, his adrenaline sending an electric buzz across Melissa's tongue.

"That's why," she muttered, pointing to the dark moon. It wouldn't be long until midnight would be over.

Carrie walked back toward them gasping, her adrenaline just as intense as Jonathan's, though the confusion and fear she emanated was almost more than Melissa could handle.

"What was all that? What was going on? What's wrong with Maddie?" she gasped as she held Madison. Nicole ran toward her friends worriedly.

"He wanted to take your friend. We need to keep her safe."

"But she's home alone! Her dad is on business," Carrie announced.

"Just take her up to her room."

"But what -" Carrie began.

"Just take her to her freakin' room, will you?!"

Carrie pulled her friend into the house and Melissa massaged her temples. Where was Rex when everyone needed him? She wasn't supposed to be the leader, the Seer was!

"Carrie's right, you know," Nicole muttered. "Madison's dad is never home, and her mom skipped out when Madison was a kid. No one's there to watch out for her."

"We'll stay with her," Melissa muttered. She wanted to find out what was going on. She had sensed some wicked vibes from that old mindcaster, and if he knew about Bixby and the secret hour... It wasn't going to be pretty.

"Melissa, we can't just sleep in someone else's house," Jonathan began.

"And we have no where else to go. We'll have food, a place to sleep, and I have to help that girl control herself before she hurts someone. Now - if you have no more arguments - I want you to walk the seer and his brother back to their house before they're attacked again," she ordered as she walked into the house.

"Is she always so bossy?" Nicole muttered.

"Only since we left Rex," Jonathan commented as he turned to the twins, both still pale and obviously upset. "But she does have a point. Come on you two, I'll take you home. You want to come, uh, Nicole?"

"I'll go with Carrie. Now we know she can fly with people -"

"No, not this late. If she's in the air when real time starts again, it won't be pretty," Jonathan warned.

Nicole blushed a bit. "I hadn't thought of that. Sorry. We won't fly."

"Good."

Melissa looked around the house after Jonathan left a second time to get the car. Big screen TV, very clean, lots of food... Whoever Madison was, her dad certainly was loaded. She climbed up the stairs, spotting a series of guest rooms.

Finally she came to Madison's room. It looked like any other teenager's room: a bit darker than Jessica's had been, but girlier than Dess's. Madison lay on the bed, actually asleep, not under any mental lock. She was small, her hair jagged at the bottom as if she had hacked it off herself. Her face was twisted in pain, the thoughts and dreams of other people tormenting her even in sleep.

Melissa leaned back against the door frame and stared at the other mindcaster. She had never met another one her age before. All she had had was Madeline. Without wanting to she began to feel something for the girl. It wasn't motherly or sappy or any other expected reaction; she just understood.

Melissa spotted a portable CD player on Madison's desk. Without thinking, she picked them up and slipped the headphones over the girl's ears and pressed play. Madison muttered in her sleep, but Melissa could feel the girl relax a bit. She would learn how to deal with life. Melissa decided she would teach her.

"Passing on the headphones, huh?" Jonathan commented as he walked behind her. "Well, I guess the torch would be Jess' thing."

Melissa sighed and crossed her arms. "Pick one of the guest rooms," she muttered. "Make yourself at home. We'll be here a while."

Melissa trudged down the stairs the next morning, her head pounding, not from other people, but from the exhaustion of the night before.

Jonathan was already awake, eating a bowl of cereal as he turned on the big screen.

"Why couldn't Madeline's house have been like this?" he called. "You know, I might just block the weather channel."

"Do what you want, just don't make a mess. We're not supposed to be here."

Jonathan responded, but Melissa didn't hear. Madison was awake.

"What is it?" Jonathan wondered.

Melissa ignored him and walked up toward Madison's room. The girl sat on the side of her bed, staring at the ground, the CD player in her hand. Melissa noticed that she was wearing long, black gloves. How many times had Melissa thought of completely covering herself like that before? Melissa walked in and leaned against the door frame, waiting. Madison spun around and stared at her, her eyes wide.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?" she demanded. "You working with that crazy old man?"

Melissa smirked and walked into the room. "Not even close. The music helps, doesn't it?"

"You didn't tell me who you were. My dad'll be home soon, you better get out."

"Your dad is out of town, and you didn't let me get to my name. If you think about it hard enough you'd already know."

"How did you know where my dad is?" Madison grumbled.

"Your friend Carrie told me, so did Nicole."

"Where did you meet them?"

Melissa took a step closer and smiled. "The Blue Time."

Madison looked her over curiously, and huffed. "What do you want with me?"

"I keep telling you to think about what I am, to read my thoughts. I'm letting you."

"I don't want to read your thoughts. I don't want to read anyone's thoughts."

"You don't have much of a choice."

"Says who?"

"Says life. Now are you going to deal with it or spend the rest of your life sitting in this room with a wicked headache?"

"Last time someone asked me that I ended up nearly being kidnapped."

"You remember that?"

"I knew what was going on."

"Then you knew that we saved you."

"There's more than one of you?"

"There's me, Jonathan, whose downstairs glued to your TV, and Jessica. We'll get to her later."

"And how am I supposed to know you're telling the truth?"

"Why don't you look for yourself."

"I already told you no."

"It won't get better unless you do."

"Ah, so I'm supposed to do something that hurts to make it stop hurting? A little backward, isn't it?"

"You have to learn to control it or be controlled. You can't make it go away. The only way to learn anything is to practice."

"How, with you? Please, you're barely older than I am."

"And I've been doing this since you were a baby. I know what I'm talking about, I've been dealing with this my entire life. Your little friends just started experiencing Midnight, you don't know what's going on. We're here to teach you."

"You're here to keep me from that other man."

"You looked into my mind," Melissa announced with a grin.

She huffed and leaned back against her bed, turning her music up louder and looking intently at the wall.

Melissa supressed a grin and closed her mind again, noting Madison's sideways glance at her as she left. She would learn. It would take a while, but she would.


	5. Dessometrics, Lesson One

A/N: Alright, so I know that I've been pretty terrible at regularly updating this story, but I DO have a pretty good reason why. My first two books, "The King's First Journey" and "The Paladin's Choice" are being published! They'll be out in a couple weeks, and I've been extremely busy editing and working on publication. I haven't given up on the story, however, and will definitely continue, just be patient with me! Thank you so much to those still reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy.

Chapter Four: Dessometrics, Lesson One

Brett Keith tossed his letterman's jacket aside and grabbed the new football.

"One! Two! Three!" he heard Alison shouting as she ran through her new routine.

He blocked her shouting and examined the goal-post. 50.1032 yards exactly. The line was a bit off, but it was what they used in the game. He did the math in his mind, using the post and the post's shadow cast by the moon, and threw. Garret suddenly blinked back to visibility at the endzone, and caught it easily.

"Nice one, buddy!" Garret shouted as he ran back. "Hey, who knew math would be so cool in football, huh?"

"Yeah," Brett muttered. He still found it weird how quickly the calculations flitted through his head.

"Bet if we keep this up we'll crush Piedra Vista next week. Perfect passes every time."

"Yeah, if I don't get suspended from the team."

"What for? You were only failing math, now that's no problem."

"Mr. Barton thinks I'm cheating."

"Take a new test by yourself, prove it."

"Yeah, that will happen."

"Hey!" a sharp voice shouted down to the football field.

Brett, Alison, and Garret spun around, looking to the cover on the bleachers. Carrie was crouched on the roof, a boy none of them recognized standing next to her.

"What does she want? She doesn't talk to us," Allison huffed as she ran to stand next to Brett. "It's bad enough she has to be in this totally rad time with us, she doesn't have to keep bugging us about it."

"What?" Garret shouted.

The new kid and Carrie leapt off the rooftop and landed lightly on the ground. Brett felt his stomach flip. He hated to see anyone jumping like that, it defied every law of nature.

"What do you want? I thought you told us not to talk to you," Allison remarked.

"Don't think I came here on my own, Barbie, I'm under duress," she grumbled, nodding to the new boy. He stepped forward a bit and extended his hand.

"My name's Jonathan. My friend Melissa and my girlfriend Jessica are waiting for us at Madison Sachet's house. We have to talk to all of you."

"And you are?" Garret questioned.

"We're people who know what's going on here, and we know some things that may save your life."

"Don't be so melodramatic," Allison remarked.

"He's not," Carrie snapped. "James Howell was almost killed by some freakish monster last night and Madison was almost kidnapped by some old creeper acrobat and his friends."

"Acrobat?" Brett inquired.

"Someone like me," she remarked.

"Wait, James Howell? Christian's brother?" Garret questioned.

"Yeah," Carrie responded.

"Well is he okay?"

"He's fine, but just barely. These guys know what they're talking about, I think. They saved James' life, and the guys who tried to kidnap Madison almost seemed scared of them."

A sudden grumble behind the stadium caught their attention, sending shivers of fear along their spines.

"Uh, maybe we should go meet these people," Allison whispered.

"Yeah, let's go," Brett agreed.

"Take my hands," Jonathan called, offering his hands to whoever would take them. "Carrie will take whoever's left. We'll jump you to the house."

"And let her drop me?" Allison remarked as she took Jonathan's hand. "I don't think so."

"Oh gosh, Ally, don't be such a brat," Garret remarked as he took Carrie's hand.

"Jump us? You mean, you're going to fly us there?" Brett muttered, goosebumps forming along his arms.

"What, you're not scared, are you?" Garret dared.

"No," Brett instantly rebutted, taking Jonathan's hand. He gasped as he was instantly flooded with an intense feeling of weightlessness. Allison chuckled.

"All right, hold on tight, and jump when I tell you to."

Brett nodded.

"Alright," Allison agreed. "Let's go."

Brett stepped cautiously into the house, feeling awkward at walking into someone else's home in the middle of the night.

"We're back," Jonathan called.

Brett had only seen Madison every now and then in the hallways. He thought he might have had a class with her once, but it was a while ago. He saw her sitting on an overstuffed leather couch in the living room, a pair of headphones over her ears. He thought she used to have long hair, but it was now cut around her face.

Nicole was sitting cross-legged on the floor across from the Howell twins, James sitting in a reclining chair and Christian on the chair's armrest. Christian got up and grabbed Garret's hand, bumping shoulders.

"Hey bud, I heard about your brother last night, that's crazy scary," Garret announced.

"Yeah but he's fine now thanks to this bunch," he indicated Jonathan with his thumb and a red-haired girl who sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder and holding his hand. She must be his girlfriend, Jessica.

"Everyone sit down," a new girl ordered as she walked in. She wore a black top and skirt, her hair only an inch or so long. "That means you to, Madison."

Madison rolled her eyes and slid off the couch to the floor. By the blare of the music coming from Madison's headphones, Brett didn't know how she heard the goth girl.

"Everyone sit in a circle, hold hands," the goth girl continued.

"Who are we going to contact from the other side?" Garret laughed. The goth girl glared at him.

"Just do it," she remarked. "We don't have much time."

"Who are you?" Allison questioned searchingly.

"You'll know soon enough."

The entire group formed into a circle, holding each other's hands. The goth girl sat down, keeping her hands in her lap. "Everyone relax and do not let go. If you feel someone's hands slipping, keep a firm grip. You need this, though it goes against my better judgment."

"What's going on?" Allison stated.

"She's going to mess with our brains," Madison announced.

Everyone looked at each other nervously, but the girl simply grabbed Madison and James' hands and Brett instantly felt something change in his mind. He gasped, the presence overwhelming as it stuffed new information into his mind. Giant monsters creeping through the darkness, their shrieks of pain echoing through the desert at the sting of new metal glowing with a thirteen letter name. Loneliness, fear, the constant threat of being discovered. A lightning bolt flashing through the sky. Slithers, Darklings, thirteen, acrobats, seers, polymaths, firebringers, mindcasters... It went so fast he could barely tell what was happening, let alone what she was putting in his mind.

In an instant it was over, the goth girl he now knew as Melissa tossed James' and Madison's hands aside, rubbing her palms nervously together, her face pale. Brett sat back with a gasp, his head still spinning almost uncontrollably. He sighed and slowly tried to calculate pi until his thoughts reorganized themselves.

"What was that?" Allison demanded as she ran her fingers nervously through her hair, though Brett knew she just hadn't let her new knowledge sink in yet.

"Oh gosh, this is serious," James muttered, leaning forward, rubbing the bridge of his nose where his new glasses were rubbing against his skin.

"It is serious, and while there's a lot sinking into your little brains now, I haven't shown you everything. You need to train, you need to learn a lot in a very short time," Melissa announced, a small quiver in her voice. Something about her little lesson had been painful to her.

Garret huffed "Why do I get the feeling Big Blue suddenly turned into school?"

"Because it did," Madison grumbled.

Brett watched everything in silence, sorting through his thoughts. Everything made more sense now, and at the same time, the fact that this world had existed for so long seriously unnerved him. Numbers flitted through his head, uncontrollably, and he knew they weren't his own. Images of another polymath, her memories seemingly floating above his own. She would hate knowing that Melissa had given him a part of Dess' memories... Dess... the name suddenly fit into place. Someone like him.

Melissa looked over at him with a bit of a warning glance and Madison rolled her eyes. He would have to watch his thoughts... nothing was private anymore.

"Some of you have mentors, we can teach you personally, but others don't. Melissa has memories of old Midnighters like you, but we don't have living people like you."

"Yep. Ally, Nicky and I are the odd ducks here," Garret chuckled. "Mental mentoring?"

"We'll work something out," Melissa grumbled.

"I'll teach Carrie, Jessica will take Christian, Melissa and Madison need each other anyway, and James... well, he may have to be with Melissa as well. I don't know if Rex is really the right teacher for a new Midnighter at the moment."

"And what about me?" Brett called softly.

"You are lucky," Melissa announced as she got up and grabbed one of Madison's laptops, tossing it to him. "Dess has her own site, her own chat. Get ready for online classes."

Brett stared down at the computer awkwardly. More classes? He had enough of a sense of Dess' personality that he knew she wouldn't be the most patient of teachers...

"Oh stop fretting, jock boy," Madison remarked.

"This doesn't work during Big Blue," he muttered.

Madison rolled her eyes. "In the morning, idiot."

"Wow, someone got some bite, you were never like this, Maddy," Carrie chuckled.

"She's been spending too much time in Melissa's brain," Garret announced with a ghostly wave of his fingers.

Madison rolled her eyes.

Tomorrow morning Dess is starting her online class. About five or six polymaths are involved. You'll miss homeroom," Melissa announced in a no-nonsense voice.

"Miss homeroom? If they find out I'm skipping they could kick me off the team!" Brett argued.

He quailed under Melissa's glare. "Who do you think you are now? You know the basics, you know what's at stake... Football should be the least of your worries."

Brett glanced at the clock and switched the laptop on. The program instantly popped up. It seemed he was the last one to sign in, even though he had come on five minutes early.

"Brett?" the words flitted across the screen.

"That's me" he typed the words nervously, unsure of what to expect. Before he could chicken out, he pressed the button and the words appeared on the screen as well.

"Good. Dess should be here soon."

Brett stared at the screen again. She wasn't on yet?

"Who are you?" he typed.

"Sara. Think of me as the TA," the response was suddenly cut off as another person entered.

"Good morning, my little students." The writing was bright green with a black background. This had to be Dess. "Today you're learning a very simply lesson, the first lesson of Dessometrics, to be exact. Lesson one: it's all about the math. Don't forget it. Everything about Midnight is math. Learn the patterns, the numbers, and you'll rule the night."

"Funny, Dess... I thought Lesson one was you're always right," Sara remarked.

"That's rule number one, Sara; a given. Sort of the unwritten first lesson."

"Sorry, just wanted to clarify," Sara responded.

Brett watched the banter with interest. This was definitely going to be a different kind of class.


	6. A New Kind of Education

**A/N: Alright, so yes, I am updating. Finally. It hasn't been for like, what, a couple months? Yes, I know, I'm a bad author, and honestly I have no excuse so... um... just read and enjoy! I'll keep updating when I can. This is really my practice project, the one story I don't have to edit or even spell check (sorry about that, guys. I bet you've come across a few amazing spelling errors) and therefore it often gets placed on the back burner. Anyway, enjoy. And review! Honestly, those reviews make my day. :)**

**Chapter Five: A New Kind of Education**

Madison shuffled down the hallway, staring at each person as they passed. Carrie was walking next to her, rambling, loving the sound of her own voice. She didn't care that Madison wasn't listening. If she asked about anything, Madison could always just read her thoughts enough to give her the answer she wanted.

Everyone passed, streaming to their next class like a river, every one of them leaving a distinct taste in Madison's mouth, an imprint in her mind. There was a time when their thoughts would have driven her mad, but after only a week of Melissa's 'training,' she'd gone from dreading school, to being intrigued by it.

Melissa was scared of other people. Madison could feel it. She didn't say it aloud, she'd hide behind the excuse that they were painful, they were loud, and everyone believed her. Not Madison. She didn't want to let anyone too close to her. She was afraid of loss, of being alone, and so she avoided everyone. Madison wasn't afraid, however. She loved the minds she passed, her fingers itched to delve into every one, but she knew how dangerous that would be. Melissa had told her about Rex's father, about the old mindcasters. It was dangerous, entering other people's minds. But Madison wanted to.

"Maddie, you listening?" Carrie questioned.

Madison turned to her, feeling Carrie's last question like a thread of pepper along her tongue and nodded.

"Yeah, Allison can be pretty impossible. At least you don't have to take lessons with her during Blue Time."

"Yeah, but I still have to see her all the time! Why, of all the people in this freakin' city, was SHE born at midnight? I mean, she's not even..."

Madison tuned Carrie out again, something catching her attention. A light, peaceful stroke along her mind. She looked around, searching for the person reading her thoughts, the taste of vanilla in her mouth. That wasn't Melissa.

Carrie swore fiercely as the bell rang the beginning of class and the hallway seemed to empty in an instant. "Ah, man, I can't be late again! Come on, Maddie, let's go."

"Yeah," Madison mumbled, letting Carrie drag her to class by her sleeve. The pressure in her mind was gone, the taste gone, but the presense still haunted her.

"Nice to see you two ladies decided to join us," Mrs. Abbott sniffed as they ran in and took their seats. "Carolyn, you're late again."

"Sorry," Carrie huffed.

Madison sat back, blocking out the sound as Mrs. Abbot introduced some new kid and then droned on about Emerson. She wondered if she should tell Melissa about what had happened. Madison hadn't felt threatened or even invaded... only curious. And did Melissa really need to know EVERYTHING? She was smart, she was her teacher, but she was not the only one who could do anything.

The closing bell shook her out of her reverie and she stood automatically with the rest of the class, following Carrie, who ran off to her next class at the other end of the school, without much thought, until she felt it again. The same taste, the same presence. She turned around, looking back into the class, and spotted the new kid, a tall, raven-haired boy walking toward her.

"Hey, Madison, right?" he questioned, offering her his hand.

She looked down at his hand in confusion, turned around, and walked away.

"Hey wait!" he called, running back to her.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

He leaned in close to her, his voice soft. "You don't have to shake my hand if you want. I was scared to touch my first time to."

She froze. She could taste it emanating from him. Vanilla. She looked up at him in shock and he grinned.

"Who are you?" she questioned.

He grinned again and tugged on her sleeve a bit. "A lot more like you than you'd expect. She doesn't know everything, you know."

"Who?"

"Your not so masterly mentor. Don't stay so under her thumb. And watch out when she touches you... she'll get into your mind, mess it up. She's done it before."

"Who are you?" Madison demanded again.

He chuckled. "I already told you, but if you must have a name, you can call me Jason."

"Well, Jason, I don't really know what you're trying to do or what you're doing here, but I'm not too sure I want anything to do with it," she responded as she turned to walk away.

"It doesn't have to be so lonely, you know," he called. "It's not a curse. You ever need to talk to someone who's not a masochistic punk, you'll know how to find me."

Madison continued walking, the taste of vanilla in her mouth, and a strange thrill racing along her spine.

Madison strolled back into her house, tossing her backpack aside, and walked toward her room, her meeting with Jason still on her mind.

"What happened today?" Melissa called as Madison passed the kitchen. Madison quickly concealed her thoughts and walked into the kitchen, feeling the whisp of Melissa touching her mind. Madison tightened her defenses and lightly shoved Melissa's presence away.

"When my dad gets back, he's going to notice all the food you're both eating," Madison grumbled, pointing out the apple in Melissa's hand, her black nail-polished hand reminding Madison of the wicked stepmother in Snow White.

Melissa took another bite and shrugged, her eyes intense. She tried to read Madison's thoughts again, but Madison again pushed her out, her eyes just as intense. Melissa couldn't just reach into her mind whenever she wanted. She wasn't all that much older than Madison, she wasn't some Blue Time Goddess.

Melissa opened her mouth to say something, but immediately stopped herself, her lips one tight line.

Jonathan walked into the room and immediately paused, looking from Madison to Melissa and back to Madison.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

Madison broke away from Melissa's gaze and turned to Jonathan.

"Nope," she remarked. "I was just going to take a nap."

She glanced at Melissa again, and walked out of the kitchen back up to her room.

Madison could feel the Blue Time approaching, seeping into her bones. She hadn't gone to sleep like she'd said, had barely done any of her homework, and definitely hadn't gone back downstairs. She didn't need another confrontation with Melissa.

She stared at her cieling, blocking out all of the thoughts around her, yearning for the peace of the Blue Time. She needed to think. She hadn't had her "powers" long, but she felt as if she'd always been a Mindcaster and she was just now starting to learn control. Melissa had taught her a lo, but in a world where the mind was so volatile, could she trust anyone? She didn't like being controlled, she didn't like anyone having power over her, but could she change that? Who was Melissa anyway?

The earth around her shuddered as night slipped into the Midnight and she sighed. Finally, some peace of mind. She could sense everyone traveling to her house, ready to begin lessons again. She searched the city for Jason, wondering if he'd show up. He certainly seemed to know plenty about what was going on, but she couldn't sense him anywhere.

A sharp knock on her door caught her attention and Melissa opened the door.

"You coming down?" she remarked.

"Maybe," Madison responded.

Melissa paused a moment and then stepped further inside. "Alright, what's going on?"

Madison sat up a bit. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're being a brat, Madison. I can't help you if you won't cooperate."

"You're talking about me being a brat?" she demanded.

"I am. Now get up and get downstairs."

"Or what? You're not my mother, Melissa."

"You're risking your life, you know. You don't learn control and you'll do something you'll regret."

"And I'm not going to regret letting you mess with my head every night? Huh? You haven't even been here a week and already you have every one of us bowing to you for knowledge that's supposed to keep all the bad things away."

"You're being stupid," Melissa commented. "Why would I want to mess with you? What could I possibly gain from playing with your mind? The Blue Time is everywhere, why would I go after some random little teenager when I could control anyone I want?"

Madison paused. She had a point.

"You know I'm right. Now come downstairs," Melissa grunted as she left the room.

Madison watched her leave and sighed, flopping down on her bed. Even in the Blue Time she was getting a headache.

"You find anything?" James questioned as Christian and Jessica sauntered back into the house.

"Nope, nothing. The Darklings don't seem to be willing to come out and play after Jess here gave that nasty one a shock with her flashlight."

"We know they're out there, they'll come back," Melissa reminded them as she walked out of the kitchen where Allison was working with Brett to try to refine her sense of metals.

James sighed and leaned on the arm of the big easy chair in the living room. "I want to go help," he muttered.

"Sorry, bro," Christian remarked as he ruffled his twin's hair a bit. "But the little nasties seem to have a taste for your seer-ness."

Madison watched everyone scuttle about her house, delving into their skills, looking at Melissa, Jonathan, and Jessica as if they were Gods. She grunted and leaned against the wall.

Suddenly, she felt someone gently probe her mind. The taste of vanilla flicked across her tongue. She smiled.

Ignoring everyone else, she walked out the front door.

"Madison, where are you going?" Melissa demanded.

"I'll be back soon," she grumbled.

"It's not safe to be out there by yourself," she remarked.

"You're not my mother, Melissa. I'll do what I want," she huffed.

Everyone around them paused, glancing at the two girls as they stared at eachother, Madison's hand on the doorknob, Melissa glaring across the room, her arms crossed.

"We just saved you from being kidnapped, Madison. You really think it's smart to go wandering around by yourself?"

Madison rolled her eyes and walked outside, shutting the door behind her back. She paused. What was she doing? Melissa made sense, why was she being such a brat?

"Hey. I didn't think you'd come," Jason chuckled as he walked across the street and leaned on her fence.

She crossed her arms, doing a fairly decent impression of Melissa. "What do you want?"

"Ouch, why so harsh?" he commented. "Can't I join your little club?"

"You don't feel right," I stated flatly.

"And yet you came out here to talk to me. And you haven't made a move to go back inside. You don't have to be so defensive, you know," he chuckled.

She felt her cheeks turn a slight shade of red.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"I only want to help you. I went through the same thing, I know what you're going through. I also know how to help you train," he added casually, though his eyes looked up at her intensely. "And I also know that that Melissa girl is not helping you any. None of you are confident enough to come out here on your own, to enjoy yourselves. What is this amazing time if you spend it all studying and hiding in that house? You're all powerful, a new breed of human. Why cower?"

His words rang through her mind like bolts of lightening, every sentence sending a jolt through her.

"You're insane," she remarked.

"I know what I'm talking about."

"How, huh? You didn't come from Bixby, you're as new to this as I am!" she pointed out.

"No I'm not," he argued.

"Oh really, and how are you older?"

He tapped his head. "Because I know. Long ago the mindcasters passed down everything they knew, going from mind to mind. I was trained by one of those mindcasters, and everything he knew, everything every mindcaster has known since the very beginning is right here. Melissa didn't tell you about that, did she? She kept it from you?"

Madison's face went blank. She didn't want him to see that he was right, but he laughed. "You need to work on blocking those thoughts," he replied.

"And what, you can help me?" she remarked.

"I can," he stated confidently. He held out his hand. "Here. Take my hand."

She looked down at his outstretched hand and didn't move. "I may not know everything, but I do know what you could do to me if you had a direct connection to me."

"You trust Melissa," he pointed out.

She opened her mouth to respond and shut it again, words failing her. Why would she trust Melissa and not Jason? It didn't make sense.

"Oh come on, I won't do anything, I won't even control my thoughts. I'll be an open book to you. If I start anything, just pull away."

She looked him over and carefully thought over what he'd said. How could she trust him? She didn't even know him. Then again, she didn't really know Melissa either. What was Melissa hiding from her?

"Fine then," she remarked, taking a few confident steps forward and, before she could stop herself, she grabbed his hand.

She gasped as he flooded her thoughts, a wild rush of emotion, taste, flashes of images and sounds. She saw Darklings swarming around her, heard screams ripping through the Blue Time air. What were these creatures? What were they doing? A brunette boy with thick glasses tried to run, tripping to the ground. The Darklings descended from the sky, searing his flesh. He shrieked, his eyes wide. Terror shocked through her mind, paralyzing her…

She pulled away from him, gasping, beads of sweat along her brow.

"You saw it?" he whispered, his confidence shaken for a moment.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"That's what ignorance gets you," he stated. "That was my friend. He didn't know about Midnight. None of us did. He was killed."

"You're serious?"

"Yes. I only got away because I was rescued by my mentor, taken away and taught how to survive in this world. That's why I'm here. You need to know what to do or all of you are going to end up dead," he responded, his words so passionate, his eyes so intense, that she couldn't help but trust him.

"So, you want to teach me?"

"That's what I just said," he commented with a bit of a grin. "That is, if you can get away from the tyrant."

She smiled and glanced back at her house. "That won't be a problem. We can meet at school if we have to. She won't be suspicious. When do we start?"

He looked up to the sky. Blue Time was only half over.

"We start now. Come on."

He reached his hand out to her and she cautiously took it. There was a buzz of a connection, a sudden closeness, but he was keeping his thoughts in check. He laughed.

"We really have to work on your shielding skills."


	7. The Weapon

A/N: Here's a new chapter! Review please!

Chapter Six: The Weapon

Melissa stared out the window, holding her arms against her chest, her cheek pressed against the cold glass. She could taste the minds of the city. It was lunchtime at the nearby high school, and their petty teen dramas bounced through her mind, a jumble or melodramatic noise that set her teeth on edge. She could control it, push it out, but it never went entirely away.

Jonathan slept in the upstairs guestroom, their little pupils sitting in their classes or wandering the lunchroom. She was completely alone, and the feeling sent shivers along her spine. She didn't scare easily, she'd certainly faced worse, but there was something unsettling in the air, something intense and completely, horribly still. Something was coming, the world was on the verge of changing, and she didn't know what to do.

She was suddenly struck by an intense desire to call Dess. No, she corrected, she wanted to talk to Rex. He would know what to say, what was coming, what part she was supposed to play in it, but he couldn't handle phones anymore, the electric buzz of the device was torture to his Darkling side.

She knocked her head lightly against the window, her whole body aching with the desire to return, but knowing that she couldn't abandon Madison and the rest of her friends. The Darklings were coming back, they had proven it when they'd attacked James, when they'd killed that Seer-boy they'd met along the road. And there was still that old mindcaster. What he wanted with Madison was beyond her, but she knew that it couldn't be good.

She shifted uncomfortably. Midnight used to be so simple, so private, now that it had exploded, nothing was the same. They weren't a team anymore, Rex, Dess, herself; even Jonathan and Jessica had had a place, but this? The whole world was open to them, and that held more dangers than any psychokitty or giant spider. Something precious had vanished forever.

She stewed over the expansion of Midnight for nearly an hour, when the worry and anxiety suddenly became too much to handle. She had to talk to Rex. He would understand, even if no one else did.

She grabbed the phone and dialed without thinking, without pausing to second-guess herself. She fought the urge to hang up when the dull, monotone ring began, and breathed a sigh of relief when the click of the receiver echoed along the line.

"Hello?" Dess' voice was tenser than normal.

"Dess, I need --"

"Melissa?!" Dess interrupted, her tone exploding with emotion. Even over the phone Melissa had to step back in shock. "Melissa, if we get you a phone, answer it!"

"What's going on?" Melissa questioned, gripping the receiver hard.

"Melissa, it's Rex…"

"What is it?" Melissa demanded, feeling her heart catch within her chest, her breathing still.

"Melissa, he might be dying."

"Jonathan!" Melissa shouted, slamming the guestroom door open, turning the light on, and pulling him out of bed. He grunted in annoyance, stumbling to his feet.

"What?" he questioned.

"We're going back."

"Back where?"

"Back to Bixby! Rex was attacked!"

"What?" Jonathan gasped, fully awake.

"Someone broke into Madeline's house while he was there. He was stabbed. With a knife made of fresh, alloyed metal."

Jonathan's eyes grew wide. "But that would mean -"

"Whoever did it knows what he is. Jonathan, they think he's dying."

She turned away, furious as tears began to form in her eyes. She didn't cry. She hadn't in years. She wasn't going to do it now, but the mere thought of losing Rex, not just while she was out helping other Midnighters but for good, she couldn't help it.

"But what about Madison and Carrie? James and Christian? Everyone?"

"Didn't you hear me?!" she shrieked, rounding on him violently. He took a step back in surprise. "Rex might die! For real this time! All these little new Midnighters can deal with it. We had to! I'm not staying here!"

"Melissa, we can't just leave. Rex is strong, he can't just--"

She couldn't listen to him anymore, he made too much sense. She spun away from him, rooting through his jacket, the bedside table, anywhere he might have hidden car keys.

"Fine, you stay with them, I'm going back. Where did you put the keys?"

"You think I'm going to let you drive? After what happened last time Rex was in danger?"

"Then come with me!" She cringed at the anguished tone in her voice. Why couldn't she sound determined, controlled? Why did she have to sound like she was about to weep?

Jonathan watched her in shock. He had never seen her like this, so upset, so terrified. He felt a clench of pain in his stomach at the thought of Rex, but he knew that it was a sign that something terrible was going on, and he couldn't help but link Rex's attack to the strange problems happening here. As the original Midnighters, the ones with the experience, they needed to be on both fronts. They couldn't go back. He couldn't explain that to Melissa, though. She seemed ready to rip him apart just for car keys, what would she do if he tried to stop her?

"Melissa, you remember that funeral we went to before we got here? And then once we got here, the darklings went after James, they targeted him. Someone, something, is trying to kill seers. We can't leave James behind, he would die."

"Then we take him with us," she argued.

"Away from his family? His school? And what about Madison? She was almost kidnapped!"

"I don't care!" she finally screeched, her hands balled into fists, her eyes red with unshed tears, her face a twisted mix of desperation and anger, guilt and fear. She turned around and punched the wall hard, blood lashing out at the white paint, her knuckles cracked. She sank to the ground, shaking, small trickles of blood running down her fist. Jonathan knew in that instant that he had won the argument, she would stay, but it didn't make him particularly happy.

"Why can't I use the flashlight?"

"You can, but it's mine," Jessica argued.

"That's so not fair! You're not the flamebringer here, you're from Bixby," Christian sulked, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"Well, you're just going to have to find your own gimmick," Jessica chuckled.

Melissa watched them all prattle on together through the faint haze of the Blue Time. No one really needed her anymore, they knew what they were, they just needed practice. Madison had left again just before Midnight, and with her mind completely on Rex, Melissa didn't much care.

She sat in the corner of the living room, melding into the shadow. She closed her eyes, trying to reach for Rex with her mind. Surely their connection was strong enough to at least give her a hint, a whisper of his mind. She didn't feel anything, even after she gave herself a headache, straining to just sense him. The loss felt like a hole in her stomach, she didn't feel complete. She couldn't even comprehend how it would feel if Dess called with the news that he had died.

"What's up?"

Melissa looked up with a sharp glare. James sat back in surprise.

"Sorry," he mumbled, the word escaping his lips involuntarily.

"What?' she demanded softly.

"You just seem… upset," he muttered, the words sounding lame even to his own ears. Melissa grunted sarcastically, running her fingers over the stubble of her hair.

"Get back to reading the Lore. You need to learn it if you're going to take over here when Jonathan and I leave."

James huffed. "You know, I don't really know how much of it is relevant anymore. Everything's changed. The Blue Time is everywhere now."

"Not really. It used to be everywhere a long time ago, and to be frank, James, the Darklings haven't disappeared and we may need the Lore before too long. You just need to go deeper than older Seers."

He sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

Melissa felt annoyance and anger itch beneath her skin. This was the future of the Seers? Rex would be delving into the Lore, he'd know exactly what to do. He wouldn't be draped across some chair whining.

Even as she thought it she knew she wasn't being entirely fair. James had been studying. She'd seen him. But he was no Rex.

"You're going to wish you knew more when you need that information," she warned, trying hard to control her tone.

"How will I know when I know enough?" he muttered.

"You will never know enough. Ever. And there will come a time when you have no idea what to do. It's all about delaying that day, and knowing as much as you can to dig yourself out of that mess when it comes."

"You really think the Darklings are back? I mean, we haven't seen any of them since the night you all arrived. Maybe that was the last one?"

"There's always more Darklings," she grumbled. "They never go away. They've spent too long surviving to just disappear."

"But where are they coming from? You wiped most of them out at Halloween, and now that Midnight has spread everywhere, they're spread too thin. There are too many Midnighters. Any half-baked seer could figure out how to fight them sooner or later, they'll be wiped out."

"Then you better get to studying why they are here, when reason says they shouldn't."

She glanced up at him, ignoring the mock sigh of frustration that escaped his lips more because he thought it should than anything else. She could see it there, in his eyes. She didn't even have to use mindcasting to know that she had sparked an interest within him. It was the same look Rex got when something about the Lore grabbed his interest. James would be spending a lot more time studying from now on. Somehow, that look in his eyes as he walked away made the pain in her heart worse. The world was moving on. What would happen if Rex was no longer needed?

Madison returned just as everyone was preparing to return home. She looked smug, Melissa thought. What was her little pupil up to?

The girl strolled through the house, ignoring everyone, and stopped, patting her friend, Carrie, on the shoulder. Carrie's head suddenly snapped up and she glanced at Madison. Melissa's eyes narrowed as the two girls ran up the stairs. She had tasted it, just for an instant. A spark of mindcasting, and a hint of vanilla. That wasn't Madison's presence. She had passed information to Carrie, and she'd been in contact with a different mindcaster. Melissa had never taught Madison to pass information through touch. That was a practice of the old Mindcasters, one of their skills that had evolved into their giant, elitist egos that had been the plague of Bixby for generations. Where had Madison learned that, and who would teach it to her?

She pulled herself out of the corner, creeping up the stairs, carefully shielding her mind from her little student.

"Another one? Maddie, are you sure it's safe to listen to him? Remember what happened before? You were almost kidnapped!"

"Was I really? Or where they trying to rescue me? Carrie, who are we really supposed to be trusting? Jason's taught me so much more than Melissa, she tried to keep it from me. What else are they keeping from us? There's a whole world of people like us, why do we have to trust Melissa and her friends? What's so special about them?"

"I don't know, Madison, this all sounds a bit too confusing…"

"They treat us like they're the only ones who know anything. So what if they grew up with this? Jason's mentor is even older than Melissa, he knows so much more. We aren't supposed to be huddled here, hiding, why should we? We're special, Carrie. We're superheroes! Why should we let them tell us what to do?"

Melissa felt her anger boil in her veins. Someone had gotten to her, and now she was pulling them all away. The little traitor. This was who she was staying for? Why she might miss her chance to say goodbye to Rex?

She threw Madison's door open. Carrie gasped and ran out the door, passing Melissa, her head bowed. Madison just smirked.

"Who's Jason," Melissa demanded.

"Spying on me now?"

"Who is Jason?" Melissa's voice was cold, sharp. Her glare like ice.

"A real mindcaster."

"An egomaniac with a power complex and a moral vaccum?" Melissa hissed.

Madison chuckled. "You haven't sensed him yet, have you?"

"He taught you how to pass thoughts through touch. Did he also tell you that you're messing with people's minds when you do it? Not much, but a bit here and there. Soon you'll be tempted to use that power to get what you want. You'll hurt someone, could even kill them."

"Oh cut the self-righteous bull, will you? I know what you've done, Melissa, Jason told me about it."

"What does he know about me?" Melissa demanded.

"Oh, tons. You didn't tell me about that man in Bixby, did you, Rex's dad? Or Jessica's parents? How many other people have you hurt, Melissa? How many other brains have you played around with?"

"Shut up," Melissa demanded.

"What? Scared of the truth? Scared I found out that you heroes of Midnight are nothing but a bunch of selfish kids playing around?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Melissa growled, all her frustration and anger growing. Her suppressed grief and fears for Rex, her frustration with Madison and her old pain of what she had done to Rex's father, they all mingled together, infusing her thoughts, her blood, burning just beneath her skin.

"I don't? Then why do I see fear in your eyes? You're not so powerful, are you?" she demanded.

With a single step, Melissa reached out and grabbed Madison's throat, forcing through to her mind. Madison protested, blocked her, she was far stronger than before, but still Melissa shoved her barriers aside. She sent all her emotions, her memories, the fear she'd felt when she and Rex learned what had happened to his father, the chaos and torture of not being able to control her powers, the years she had spent trying to drown out the sounds of every mind within reach.

Madison began to shake, her eyes wide, her face pale as big tears rolled down her cheeks, but still Melissa continued, venting all her anger and fear into Madison, letting her feel just what it had been like to be truly untrained, lost; and that small moment was enough to bring the girl to her knees.

"Stop, please!" she gasped. Melissa didn't know if the voice was in her mind or if Madison had actually spoken, but she felt the girl's pain.

She let go and Madison collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, shaking. Melissa knelt down next to her, angling so that Madison had to look at her.

"You think this is all a game, don't you? Superheroes, isn't that what you said? Well I'll tell you something, Madison. Of all those little 'superheroes' down there, you're the one that has to be the most together, the most controlled, because if you're not, you're the greatest weapon. Midnight or not, Darklings or not, you have the power to do real harm. You think you're just playing around and then someone ends up hurt, damaged for life. You're a weapon, Madison, and unless you learn control, you're going to go through everything I did and worse. So you tell this Jason boy that he better wise up to the real world and get over himself before the two of you do something you'll really regret for the rest of your miserable life, do you understand me?"

Madison looked truly broken as she nodded, her face red with tears, her shoulders still shaking, but Melissa had gotten through to her.

She nodded harshly in return and walked out of the room, shutting the door with deliberate, painful control. If she was going to lose Rex to this, that girl had better turn into the best mindcaster that had ever existed.


	8. Gimmicks

A/N: Wow! I never thought I'd get such a good response on Fanfiction, especially since I'm such a terrible updater. :) Thank you for your encouragement and praise, guys! I'm going to try to start posting a new chapter every/every other Sunday (it's the only day during the week when I can write creatively, being that I'm pumping out books on the other days. CHeck out my website!). Again, thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Gimmicks

"Melissa, we need to teach them to make weapons," Jonathan announced the next morning. Melissa looked up from the breakfast she'd been picking mindlessly at.

"They know how to do it," she remarked.

"In theory, but not for real. It would be a good lesson for Alison. We haven't worked with a real metallurge before. Who knows what she can really do?"

She shrugged. "If you want to, go ahead. With the attack on James, it can't hurt. I'm just afraid the real threat to their lives isn't Darklings."

"That mindcaster?"

She nodded. "And this Jason boy Madison is causing trouble with."

"Jason? He sounds familiar."

"Maybe, but all I really care about that punk is what he's doing to our students. I don't like --"

She paused. There was something stirring nearby, something odd.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked.

She shushed him frustratedly and reached out with her mind. She couldn't sense anything new, but there was still something wrong.

She got up and ran to the door, stepping out into the front lawn. A boy waited for her, leaning against the fence. She stood in front of him, her arms crossed, probing his mind gently. His thoughts were well-guarded.

"Jason?"

"Melissa."

"You're bold, coming here. What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you about Madison's education," he answered. She probed harder, trying to find what he wanted, but his barriers didn't break.

"What about your own? Shouldn't you be in school?"

He chuckled. "I've been to school, Melissa. You of all people know how fast an education can be with our—unique skills."

She nearly stepped back as she felt his own probe, stronger and more precise than she'd thought it would be. She slapped it away with her mind. He smiled wider.

"Ah, and this is how you want to teach Madison? By messing with her mind?" Melissa questioned.

"I don't 'mess with her mind,' and I think you overestimate me. You overestimate yourself. I'm not skilled enough to educate her in the way she needs. I know the people who can."

She struck harder, glimpsing a bit into his thoughts. He was on a mission, and that thought was constantly on his mind.

"Ah, so you're the little messenger boy. Who sent you?"

He smiled. "You are fast. Let's slow down a bit. I want to see that Madison is properly educated, and I want the same for you."

Melissa let out a burst of laughter. "Me? Do you know who I am, little boy?"

"You're untrained, for one. I admire the skills you've developed on your own, but there's so much more available to you."

"I'm fine with what I know, thanks. I don't plan on getting a God-complex like all the other mindcasters out there."

"Be careful, Melissa. Your prejudice is showing."

"And your ignorance is leaving a foul taste in my mouth. You're being duped, Jason."

"And you're stuck, unable to even imagine what you're capable of."

She probed harder than ever, careful not to hurt him, and a face flashed into her mind. The old mindcaster from before.

Melissa walked closer to him, leaning over the fence until her face was barely a hair's breadth from his. "I don't want anything to do with you, the freaks who sent you, or anyone connected to your way of 'education.' Stay away from me, stay away from my student, and I'll stay away from you. You come back here, and I won't be so nice."

"You're making a mistake."

"Not as big a mistake you're going to be making if you don't turn around right now and never come back. Madison isn't going with you."

"We'll see what happens."

She struck him mentally, leaving a stinging blow against his shields and he took a step back. She looked at him curiously, an odd taste in her mouth again, and she laughed.

"You may have to see what happens yourself. Those aren't your shields in your mind, Jason. Who's been messing with your brain? Who are you, really?"

His face was unreadable, but she could tell that she had unnerved him a bit. The little charismatic boy had been out-witted.

"You're making a mistake, Melissa," he warned.

He glared sharply at her and strolled away, looking back over his shoulder every few steps. The instant he was out of view, her smug smile disappeared.

What was going on?

Melissa stood by the door again, holding her arms close to her chest. Something was coming. She could feel it like the electric calm before a thunder storm, the feel setting her hair on end.

"You've got to give it a name," Jonathan explained from the other side of the room.

He and Jessica had spent the last couple Midnights teaching their students how to make weapons. Allison was excelling at it. Melissa watched as she handled a steel steak knife and the metal seemed to glow. Her touch seemed to purify it, constantly making it new. She had even purified some of Jonathan's old weapons. They could have really used her skills in Bixby.

Madison continually glanced out the window, waiting for Jason, but Melissa knew he wouldn't be coming by. She'd scared him.

Melissa leaned forward a bit, something shifting just outside the door. She cautiously stepped outside.

"Hello?" she called. No one answered, but she could feel something nearby, and she wasn't sure it was human. She paused. She shouldn't be outside alone during the Blue Time, particularly when everything was so new, but all she could think of was Rex alone in Bixby, maybe already dead, and she couldn't find it in herself to care what might happen if she was caught alone by darklings.

"Melissa?"

She spun around as one of the twins padded strolled toward her. It was James. She could see the glint of his glasses in the moonlight.

"You should be inside," she announced. He held up an envelope opener.

"It's Christian's. He named it Cheeseburgers. I told him it was a stupid name, but he's always had a thing for burgers."

"What do you want?" she questioned.

"I just thought I'd check on you. Everyone's kinda worried, but they won't bring it up. You alright?"

"Fine," she huffed.

"Your hand feeling better?"

She clenched her fist, the bandaging on her cracked knuckles tightening around her hand. "It'll heal," she whispered.

He paused. "Well, alright then." He turned to leave but stopped and turned back around. "We're not, like, complete disappointments to you, are we?"

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You never seem particularly happy with us. I know you're used to your friends. Jonathan mentions Dess and Rex very now and then."

At the sound of Rex's name she cringed. She hadn't heard anything from Dess since she'd called and she couldn't help but wonder whether it was because he was fine or if Dess didn't know how to tell her that Rex was gone.

"Melissa, did you see that?" James called, knocking Melissa from her revere.

"What?" she questioned.

"There it is again," he remarked, pointing beyond the gate to the shadows of a nearby home.

She stared into the darkness and reached out to it with her mind. She shivered slightly.

"Melissa?" James questioned.

"Not now," she growled, taking a step toward the darkness.

"Melissa?"

She spun around. "I said --"

Her words cut off instantly as she saw him, frozen in place, a psychokitty standing before him, hissing menacingly.

"James, walk slowly back to the house," she whispered. He took a step away from her, keeping his eyes locked on the psychokitty, but the moment his foot moved, the Darkling looked to the sky and let out an ear-splitting yowl. Melissa looked to the sky and her eyes widened. Dozens of Slithers circled the house, and at the cry from their fellow, they dove toward the ground.

"James, move!" Melissa screamed, pushing him into the house, moaning in pain as the Psychokitty lunged, its claws grazing her side, scratching her skin.

She turned, trying to escape, when a beam of light speared the creature, running through the Darkling's chest and incinerating it from the inside.

"Thanks," Melissa muttered to Jessica as she pulled herself to her feet and Jonathan handed her a carving knife.

"It's called 'rejuvenations,'" he called.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Just go with it."

"Keep them away from the door," Melissa ordered, running to join Jessica on the front steps. The Slithers were pouring into the front yard, hissing shrieking as Jessica aimed her flashlight at each of them. Allison screamed as a nearby window shattered and a Darkling slithered inside. She threw her steak knife at it, the blade ripping through its flesh, the pure metallurge metal setting the creature aflame.

"There are too many of them," Jessica gasped as one of the Slithers charged her and Melissa stabbed it in its head.

Three more windows broke and Melissa could hear the battle raging in the home. Jessica looked worriedly over her shoulder and Melissa stabbed another Darkling.

"Pay attention!" she shouted and dove as a Slither sprang forward, its teeth bared. She hit the ground hard, the creature's wings fluttering across the back of her head. She tried to get to her feet but the Slither lunged down at her face and she stabbed upward. More charged in toward her, threatening to trample her, when they suddenly stopped. They froze, immovable as grotesque statues.

She disentangled herself and let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Jessica cautiously turned her flashlight off and looked around. "Melissa, what's going on?"

"I have no idea," she muttered.

Jonathan ran out toward them, their students following. James cradled his arm, a long gash running from his wrist to his elbow, a black eyes already appearing beneath his disheveled glasses. He'd definitely taken the brunt of the attack.

Melissa spun around and looked to the gate, a soft clapping sound approaching. She instantly raised her knife, subconsciously leveling it at the interloper.

"Very good, all of you."

The old mindcaster chuckled as he stepped forward, clapping slowly.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I'm here for the girl. She needs to be educated."

"I already sent your little messenger boy away. I know what you're teaching them. I'm not letting her go."

"You don't know half of what I'm teaching my students, half of even your own potential."

Suddenly, Garrett appeared behind the mindcaster, shimmering back to invisibility and tried to grab the man from behind. Before he could even reach the mindcaster a Slither sprang to life and lunged at him, throwing him to the ground, snapping at his face.

"Garrett!" Allison shrieked, racing forward but Brett held her back.

The Slither went in toward Garrett's throat and froze once more. Garrett gasped, his eyes wide, and pulled himself from beneath the Darkling, shaking as he stood and ran back toward his friends. Allison threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"How are you doing that?" Melissa questioned nervously.

"You really want to know? It's one of the more powerful skills of a master mindcaster," he asked, and she felt him gently probing her mind, trying to reach her thoughts. She shoved it away, stepping back in disgust. "I didn't think so."

"I'm not giving you Madison."

"I think you might reconsider. You're trapped in a minefield of Darklings. You cause trouble, and I will have no problem unleashing all of them on you again. And believe me, there are many more where they come from. You won't make it until dawn."

Melissa gripped the handle of her knife even harder, wondering if it would just be easier to kill him and get it over with. The only thing that stopped her was the uncertainty that his death wouldn't just unleash the Darklings again. And if he could control them, it was very possible that once he died, the rest would be unleashed on the world as well.

"You're a friend of Jason's?" Madison questioned.

"No, Madison."

"Don't tell me what to do, Melissa," she growled.

"She can't tell you what to do if you don't want her to," the mindcaster announced. "This isn't her decision. You know what you need to grow. Do you really want to confine yourself because of her narrow-minded approach to her skills? She doesn't know what she's doing. She's just a child as well."

"And how much can you really know? You're not from Bixby. Midnight opened for you the same time it did for any of these children."

The midnighter laughed. "You have no idea what I've been through. I know Bixby. Better than you do." She sifted through his thoughts, trying to find some clue as to his identity and he smiled. "You don't have to be so intrusive. You just have to ask. You know Madeline."

Melissa's eyebrows rose at the mention of Madeline's name. She remembered the day Madeline was destroyed more clearly than she wanted to, guilt and disgust rising within her, but even more disturbing was the memory of what had nearly happened to Rex and what was happening to him now. "What about her?"

"You want to know a bit more about me, tell her that you met Robert. She'll know what you're talking about."

"That might be hard being that Madeline is little more than a vegetable at the moment."

Robert's eyes narrowed and his face instantly darkened. "You hurt her?"

"She brought it on herself."

"Do you hear what she's saying?" Robert shouted to Madison. "She crippled an old woman and she says the woman deserved it. Is that the kind of teacher you want in your mind?"

All her students stared at her in shock and Melissa growled. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"She destroyed another human being! And Madeline wasn't the first!"

"Shut up!" Melissa screamed. Jonathan and Jessica walked behind her, trying to comfort her, but she shoved them back, stepping forward through the frozen Slithers, coming face to face with Robert, her knife in her hand, every muscle taut with fury.

"You think you know everything about me but you're wrong. You stink of old midnight. I know you now. I had you in my head once, back when Madeline was damaged. Robert. Abomination? You're the abomination. You helped her, you and your friends. You gave that poor little seer girl to them, destroyed her! And you don't feel any guilt for it! I can sense it in you. Not a hint. You're just like the rest of our kind, deluded, manipulative mind-controllers who won't admit to themselves that anything they do is wrong. Well I'm not going to turn any of my students over to you for your indoctrination. I'll let them decide what's best for them, and I'll not have you shoving it into their heads for them! Now you get out of here and leave me alone or so help me I will rip your mind apart fiber by fiber until it's nothing more than a quivering mass of unresponsive gray matter, do you understand me?"

He stared back at her unflinchingly. "You don't have any idea what I'm trying to do, are you? I'm making a better world, Melissa. Even if you can't see it. And though your talents are exceptional, I can't have you or any of your little followers getting in my way." Melissa saw one of the wings on a nearby Slither twitch and Robert smiled even wider. "Goodbye."

The Slithers all burst back to life, lunging toward her. She swing her blade, going not for an attacking darkling, but the mindcaster. He sidestepped easily and turned his back on her, strolling away from the ambush like it was a warm Sunday afternoon. Melissa felt like screaming, her rage and adrenaline coursing within her like electricity and she stabbed a nearby darkling, whispering Rejuvenations name to it over and over again, feeling as if every strike truly was rejuvenating her.

She heard screams and growls from the house, her students and friends fighting desperately for their lives, and Melissa fought to get back to them. If she was going to risk her life to keep them sane, she certainly wasn't going to let them die.

"Stand back!" Christian's voice rang through the melee.

"What is that?" Jessica shouted in surprise.

"My gimmick," he remarked and a sharp click was followed by a blast of heat and flames. Melissa threw herself to the ground, remembering the fireworks that took her hair, and covered her head. The darklings screamed, the rancid scent of incinerating flesh pervading the air. Melissa gagged into the ground, trying not to completely puke. Within what seemed like moments the area cleared and the darklings that remained fled. Melissa looked up and saw Christian grinning wildly, flipping the off switch on what looked like some kind of flamethrower.

"Where the heck did you get that?" Nicole shrieked.

"Dad's a fireman. They use these to control wildfires. I lifted one from his station."

"You stole that?" Jessica gasped.

"You told me to get my own weapon," he announced with a shrug. "I didn't want to use it in the house, and when that creepy mindcaster guy showed up I figured you'd want to hear what he had to say.

Melissa glanced up at the moon. There was still at least twenty minutes of midnight left. "Everyone, spread out. Go back home. Jonathan, Carrie, speed them up. The Darklings might regroup, come back. I don't want us all in a nice little group waiting for them."

Everyone nodded and began to disperse. Melissa stepped back inside, grimacing at the shattered windows. First thing in the morning, she was going to have to call Dess. Things were getting more serious than she thought.


	9. Surprise

A/N: NEW CHAPTER! And this was written almost entirely when I had a broken thumb, so it better be good, lol. Thank you for the reviews, and keep reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Scott Westerfeld's characters or ideas, only my own.

Chapter Eight: Surprise

"He tried to kill us!" Melissa growled into the phone. "Dess, he's controlling those Darklings, claims it's a higher form of mindcasting."

Allison glanced out the window, watching a bird hop around the fence. She shuddered, realizing that just moments before that bird would have been climbing over a Darkling corpse.

"You can?"

She spun around, Melissa gripped the receiver of the phone tightly, her fingers white.

"What is it?" Jonathan called to her. She held up her hand tensely, silencing him.

"Yeah, call me back."

She hung up and let out a deep breath. "She's going to ask Rex about the mindcaster."

Jonathan stood up in surprise. "He's alright?"

"She says he's getting better." Allison could hear the hope in her voice, though she was trying desperately to smother it. "I warned them about Robert, that he might come looking for Madeline."

Allison glanced around the room, watching Brett across the room, crouched over his computer as always, chatting with the other polymaths. He spent every Saturday at Madison's, and though Allison didn't go all the time, she was sure he spent all his time on the internet. Garrett sat in a nearby corner, his knees against his chest, seeming to be playing some video game but she could see the distraction in his eyes.

She plopped down next to him and nudged him with her elbow. "What's wrong?"

He glanced up at her for an instant. "Nothing."

"Come on now, we've been friends since the third grade. You can't fool me."

He sighed and ran his hand across his head. She noticed they were shaking slightly. "I can't forget the other night. That creature almost killed me. I keep seeing its eyes, feel its breath on my face, its teeth against my neck…"

She hugged him tightly. "It's going to be alright."

"Easy for you to say. Everything is a weapon for you. All I can do is run away."

"Being invisible has more benefits than just escaping. I mean, come on. It's one of the coolest powers out there."

"I don't know what I'll do if another one attacks me, Aly. I can't do it again."

"You're scared, Garrett. It won't be so bad in a few days."

He glanced up at her almost angrily. She sighed.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. I just – I didn't know this was going to be like this. I thought it would be cool, you know? Having our own special time, being able to turn invisible? Doing whatever we want. But now… now I would give it all up just to be ignorant again. This could kill us, Aly! And look what it's done to us! We're sneaking around, tense all the time. Garrett is hobnobbing with a bunch of nerds, I'm running scared like some sissy boy, and you're focusing so much on this that you're not the same either. You quit the cheer squad?"

"You know this is more important. It's not just Big Blue, this mindcaster guy is working in the daylight hours. And you heard him, you've heard Melissa. This guy can mess with people's minds. Innocent people. And he's training other kids to do it to. They could go after our friends and families."

"You really think they'd go that far?"

"He tried to kill you. I don't think he'd hesitate for an instant."

He moaned lightly.

The phone rang again and Melissa pounced on it, pulling it into the kitchen. Jonathan followed.

"What do you think's going on?" Garrett muttered.

A while later Jonathan stepped out of the kitchen, grabbing his keys.

"What's going on?" Allison called.

"Talk to Melissa. I've got to go. I'll be gone a couple days."

And he stepped out of the house. As the roar of his car echoed in the driveway, Melissa walked out of the kitchen.

"You three, go get the rest of your friends. I have to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Rex and Dess are coming."

"Maddie? You okay?"

Madison heard Carrie's muffled voice from behind the door. She lay on her bed, her arms under her head, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm fine," she responded.

"Melissa's teaching us more about defense. Nicky can almost focus her sonic screams to the size of a pin from across the room."

"Cool," Madison muttered.

"You sure you're alright? You don't want to come down?"

"Nope. I'm just tired, Carrie."

"Alright," she stated, unconvinced.

Madison waited for her friend's footsteps to reach the base of the stairs before rolling over and sighing loudly. She wanted something, or perhaps there was something she was supposed to be doing; either way, something wasn't right, she didn't know what it was, and it was making her frustrated. She wanted to act, to accomplish something, but as more time passed, she couln't will herself to get out of her bed.

A few minutes later, a sharp knock struck her window. She sat up lazily and noticed a small stone wedged in her windowsill. She propped the window open and glanced down. Jason stared up at her. She felt a surge of conflicting, uncomfortable emotions.

"Meet me by the door!" he whispered up to her. She almost refused, remembering everything Robert had said the night before, but there was something terribly different about Jason… His eyes were darker, wider, as if frozen permanently in shock. There was also a humility about him that she had never seen before. She tasted guilt.

She nodded and crept down the stairs, careful to seem completely disinterested in the lesson, ignoring the look Melissa gave her, knowing that without Jonathan, she didn't have the time to chase after her. Even Jessica wasn't able to help. With Jonathan gone and the danger level fairly low at the moment, she had decided to get some sleep. With her only really alive for one hour out of the day, she could easily sleep for a week if left uninterrupted.

Once she felt Melissa's attention return to the rest of the Midnighters, Madison risked opening the back door and stepping outside.

Jason was waiting near the back fence, shifting uncomfortably, constantly glancing at the ground, kicking around the small, gray rocks that looked pale-blue in the Midnight hour.

"I'm surprised you came back, after that little show your teacher gave us yesterday. He nearly killed us," she hissed, crossing her arms frustratedly. "What do you want?"

He glanced up at her angrily, his eyes hardening until they glowed in the night air like dark marbles. She took a step back, but she could feel that his anger was not pointed at her.

"I need to use your phone."

"What?" she questioned, shocked a bit out of her anger by his request. "Why?"

"Read my thoughts," he commented.

She tentatively looked into his mind, careful to look for some kind of trap, but she found him completely open, unshielded. Stranger still, his taste had changed. He tasted strange, she couldn't name it. It was tart like a green apple, but at the same time, sweet. She didn't know what to make of it. And even odder was the emotions pouring off of him. Betrayal. Guilt. Even fear. She closed her eyes, delving deeper. She saw the attack from the night before, though it was obviously through his eyes. He was farther away, in a tree, his thoughts spinning from a conversation with Melissa. She saw him questioning Robert about it, angry about the attack, and she saw the blocks Robert had placed over Jason crumble.

Madison wrenched away from his mind, her emotions spinning even more. Melissa had been right.

"He kidnapped me. Just like he tried to do with you, just like he's done to dozens of others. Made me forget what he did to my friends. He killed our Seer. Controlled the Darkling that took him down. And he's trying to kill yours to. I need to call my friends, let them know that I'm still alive. Then I need to talk to Melissa."

"She won't listen to you," Madison huffed. "After what Robert did to us, I barely trust that you're not just under some other mental block.

"You don't think I haven't thought of that? Melissa spotted my blocks before. She'll be able to see them again. And if I can get ahold of my friends, perhaps they can confirm what I think is true."

"Then what are you going to do?"

The hard stones that were his eyes blazed like fire. She had never noticed that he had such expressive eyes. Robert's control over him must have silenced part of who he was.

"I'm going to help you stop him. You have no idea what he's done to me. He's taken away my sanity. I never know if what I'm thinking is real, or just something else he's placed in my head. If what I'm doing is the right thing, or if I'm just furthering one of his plans. I can't trust myself anymore, and I hate that. He's a murderer, and if we don't want our world to fall to him, he has to be stopped. And I don't have to tell you that if he can control even a small part of the Midnight world, the waking world is soon to follow."

Madison glanced at him in shock. Shed never really thought of the ramifications her private little world might have on everyone else. Like Midnight was some amazing dream she had every night, but he was right.

"Come inside," she beckoned.

She led him inside the house and straight into the kitchen, where Melissa immediately stopped speaking, looking them over.

"He needs to use the phone once the Blue Time is over," Madison announced, wincing slightly, waiting for Melissa's sharp retort, but Melissa only looked at him, her eyes just as intense as his had been, perhaps even more so, and it seemed in that instant that Melissa, despite her youth, was something not quite human, anciently old, and wise. The moment passed an instant later and she simply nodded.

"Take him to the living room and let him sit down. I'll talk to him later."

Madison nodded and led him into the sitting room, wondering if Melissa could sense that he was being honest, or if she had something else in mind.

"I'm still good. You spread the word to the others?" Jason muttered into the receiver. "Yeah. I'll keep in touch."

Melissa watched as he hung up the phone for the fourth time that day, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest. She could sense the absence of the mental blocks she'd felt before, but she still didn't know if she wanted to trust him. She had felt something in Robert, a conniving that wouldn't allow for something as messy as letting his main agent in stealing away Melissa's protégée escape and return. There had to be something else going on, and the fact that she didn't know what it was scared her.

"So what's your story? Madison told me what you told her last night, but there's a lot of holes in that summary," she announced as he sighed and made his way into the living room, plopping down in an armchair. Melissa stood over him, matching his gaze mercilessly.

"It's just as I told Madison. I was kidnapped. Robert has this… school of sorts. He's using mindcasting to 'educate' whole groups of mindcasters and then sending them back into the world to spread the word. He has a few other friends helping him, but they're not mindcasters. He sent me here when he failed to take Madison. He saw you and your friends as a threat. You knew about Midnight, you could sway people away from him. He was counting on the ignorance of the new Midnighters, that's why he's killing seers. He doesn't want Midnighters to know the Lore, to see what came before. They're supposed to listen to him and his mindcasters. But then you started spreading a different message, and people have noticed. He's going to do everything he can to stop you."

"He has an actual school? How many students?"

"By the time he sent me, he'd already had over a hundred go through, perhaps another few dozen being educated. I have no idea how far this has grown since."

Melissa was momentarily shocked into silence. She knew what that kind of force could do to the world. Mindcasters spreading Robert's beliefs with a single touch. How many had already destroyed their first person with their newfound, uncontrolled powers mixed with their arrogance? How many had liked it?

As she thought in dread f the ramifications of this whole project, the door swung open and Jonathan stepped inside. Her eyes grew wide. She'd been so busy thinking of Jason she hadn't noticed his approach.

She watched in surprise as a tall, blonde girl followed. It was Sara, the polymath from the cemetery. Jason leapt to his feet and hugged her tightly and the connection clicked in Melissa's mind. He was their mindcaster they feared had been killed in the desert. The coincidence was so strong in Melissa's thoughts that she almost questioned its validity.

Her attention was immediately ripped away from Jason as Dess clumped into the room, looking around with her hands on her hips.

"Sweet setup, Melissa," she commented. And then, shuffling behind her, his form gaunt, his skin paler than normal, and his shoulders hunched in a way that betrayed the pain he was still in, Rex stepped into the house.

"Hey Melissa," he muttered.

Dess tossed her hair slightly. "So, whose butt are we kicking this time?"


	10. Reality

A/N: So… yeah… haven't updated in a while, huh? Crazy how life can be sometimes. But I came back to this story the other day and I recently got a message from a fan, XxStraussxX. It made my day. So, I figured, what the heck, huh? Here's a new chapter. As a warning: it has been years, and I can honestly say I haven't read Midnighters in a long time. If I get facts wrong, I'm sorry. I haven't had much study time for writing fanfics. But I hope you all enjoy! Thank you.

Chapter Nine: Reality

Robert leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands. He looked through the giant, two-way mirrors. The classroom glimmered.

"Why bother hiding it from them?"

Robert didn't look up as Nathaniel approached him. "Because it is comforting to them."

"Does that matter? They'll all be mind-wiped anyway."

Robert sat up, watching Mary, her hair up in a tight bun, wearing a high-collared silk top and a pencil skirt. Every inch the elegant school teacher. He sniffed. Nathaniel had always bothered him. Even back when they had been teenagers in Bixby. He was a glorified jumping bean.

"The mind is a very delicate masterpiece. We aren't mind-wiping them. They are still completely in control of their mental capacities. All we're doing is… facilitating their educational process."

"And adding in a few tweaks here and there? It's not like they'd notice. Or care. For all they know, they've always been like this."

"And for all you know, you are, in reality, a butterfly dreaming you are human."

Nathaniel paused. He hesitated. Robert laughed.

"That's not funny," Nathaniel whispered.

"Why?" Nathaniel was silent. "Because you know that I can bend and twist reality with a simple touch of my finger?" Robert reached out and touched the glass, his finger covering a group of young mindcasters, holding hands in a circle. "What you fail to realize is that reality is, by nature, malleable. It is not 'one size fits all'. Human beings have been changing and shifting and rearranging reality from the beginning of time. Every individual has their own version. What I do… what all mindcasters do… is change it back. We have been blessed, not only with the ability to see things as they really are, but to help others do the same. Sometimes, helping people takes a… hands on approach. Even with our own mindcasters."

"I thought Seers saw the truth."

"Seers see what was written before, by people tainted with warped realities. They are like human historians. Reliant on the minds of others. They only see what was. I see what is. People should trust their mindcasters."

Nathaniel opened his mouth to speak, but a spark of electricity burst in his mind. He looked up. Something wasn't right.

"What is it?" Nathaniel asked.

Robert stood and walked away from the window.

"Robert, answer me," Nathaniel called. Robert finally turned to face him. Old acrobat. So helpless. "What's going on?"

"Don't you trust me?" Robert questioned, grinning slightly, and leaving the room.

0000000000000000000000000000000000

Melissa sat beside him and watched him sleep. Rex. His shirt was open, his bandages fresh. He had been stabbed in the side, but he was strong. She rocked back in her chair, resting her foot on the bed. Her old Rex wouldn't have been able to survive. He was strong, but it was the Darkling in him that had saved him. She shuddered. Even in sleep there was something feral about him. Something different and wild and lethal. She didn't know whether to be terrified or in awe. She was a little of both.

He slept on his unwounded side, his hands clenching his pillow, his fingers curled almost like claws. His glasses were next to him on the bed. He had been studying the lore. Even when he should have been resting, when James was at school, he had been searching.

Melissa shifted positions and continued to think. Just being in his presence again was calming. The panic she had been silently carrying with her since he had fallen out of her psychic range was gone. She didn't need to sleep, like the rest of them. He was her rest.

Rex made a sound in his sleep. It sounded almost like a growl. Melissa wondered what he was dreaming. His eyes opened. They glinted in the hint of light that crept through the thick curtains over the windows. Melissa thought of a raccoon's eyes, seeing in the dark. He pulled his glasses on. The glinting disappeared.

"Can I have--"

Melissa handed him a glass of water before he could finish speaking. He took it gratefully and drank it all.

"What have you found?" Melissa questioned.

He sighed a bit and leaned back, his hand on his side. He reached out and lightly touched her shoe, still perched on the side of the bed as he painfully moved onto his back.

"James is a good researcher. He stumbled on a passage about old midnight, long ago. We're hoping to use it to find out why there are suddenly darklings again. Where they're coming from."

"What about mindcasters?"

"What about them?"

"I don't know yet."

Rex chuckled. "You're worried about this old mindcaster. He's turning out so many students." She nodded. "No. I haven't found a way to stop them. Not yet. But I'm looking."

Melissa fell into silence again. He was in pain. It made his darkling side angry. It made his human side scared.

"Who hurt you?"

Her question echoed in the dark room. It seemed to silence everything. Every sound, every thought. Melissa shuddered. Rex growled.

"I didn't see."

She tasted acid in his thoughts. A predator turned prey. He sunk his nails into her boot.

"It's okay," the words slipped out of her mouth unbidden.

"No, it wasn't. Madeline is dead."

Melissa froze. "When?"

"Right before we left. She was attacked, just like me."

Melissa's mind raced. Madeline wasn't a seer, she was a mindcaster. Why was she attacked?

"We'll keep you safe."

His head snapped to the side, glaring at her. He rose up a bit, leveling her, pinning her with his gaze. He didn't want to be protected.

Rex closed his eyes painfully, consciously. His grip on her boot slackened. He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Melissa whispered.

Rex took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Once he placed his glasses back on, he seemed back to normal.

"We will find out what's going on. No doubt whoever attacked me didn't know me. Seers are being killed everywhere, I hear. And Darklings couldn't get me in Madeline's house."

"Madeline is… was… a mindcaster."

"She was also mental. She was probably just in the way."

"Rex… how would anyone know about Madeline's if they weren't looking for you? It's hidden."

"What do we know about this school Jason mentioned?" His voice was sharp. Silencing. Melissa grunted.

"I have been talking to Jason about it. He doesn't know much. Robert didn't leave any markers in his mind that will lead back to him. All he has memory of is a school. A single room, with a woman teacher. She wasn't a mindcaster. She just watched over them when Robert wasn't personally passing memory. Robert was very careful in his personal instruction."

Rex nodded. "Then nothing has changed. He is still our target."

"We need to be careful around him, Rex. He's dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous. I'm dangerous."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes. But you also know what I mean. There are a lot of things going on here. Things neither of us understand. Things that may or may not be connected or even mean anything. Right now, though, our goal is simple: stop Robert. Wild mindcasters are not only dangerous, but they spread impossibly fast. The only way we have any chance of stopping this is at the source. Like playing othello. He turned a lot of tiles, but with a little targeting, we can change them back again. We need to focus."

Melissa nodded, uneasy. Normally she would argue. Normally she would insist that they figure out exactly what was going on. But he was the seer. And he knew more than he was telling her.

"Fine." She set her feet on the ground and rocked her chair back to the floor. "This is more than we're used to, Rex. This isn't just Bixby. This is the world."

"We're not the only ones anymore."

"But we're the ones who know. We see what's going on. We see reality. We have to help everyone else see it, too. Before it's too late."

Rex turned again onto his back. "Reality. Such a surreal thing. Nothing ever happens like it should. Like we expect."

Melissa stared at the ceiling. "I sure hear that."

"I missed you."

Melissa looked down at him. He was looking at her. She relaxed a bit and glanced away. "I missed you, too, Loverboy."

He reached out one hand and she sat beside him on the bed, brushing her fingertips over his palm. She only barely entered his mind, letting him into hers just enough to feel her fear, but also her hope. Her happiness at seeing him again.

"Get some rest," she whispered. "We have a lot of work to do."

She withdrew her fingers and his hand clenched. He watched her leave and, even as Melissa shut the door behind her back, she could feel his eyes still following her.


End file.
